Two oil tankers were struck by unidentified projectiles in and around the Strait of Hormuz within hours of each other, Britain's maritime agency UKMTO said, in the latest threat to shipping through the world's most critical oil waterway.
Trump says a US-Iran peace deal will be signed Sunday with the Strait of Hormuz reopening to all shipping immediately after; Iran disputes the timeline as Pakistan and Qatar push final mediation.
Reuters reports Saudi Arabia is preparing a major offensive against Houthi militants in Yemen to retake the Bab el-Mandeb strait, with more than 100,000 Yemeni troops potentially mobilized.
Saudi authorities have denied viral claims that a suicide bomber was arrested at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, saying the detained man was picked up for harassing passersby and spreading panic.
The US has quietly deployed two Patriot missile batteries to Saudi Arabia and Qatar to protect oil and gas facilities amid fears of renewed military action against Iran, Axios reported.
Saudi airstrikes pounded Houthi military sites in Sanaa overnight while Houthi missiles and drones struck back toward Riyadh, hitting a fuel facility near King Khalid International Airport and disrupting flights, in the most serious cross-border escalation since Yemen returned to war in July.
The OIC, UAE, Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain condemned a drone attack on the Taiba power station in Medina — which Saudi Arabia blames on Yemen's Houthis and the group denies — calling it a violation of the sanctity of the holy city.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran was likely behind the midair attack on flydubai flight FZ1073 and warned Tehran would be "hit very hard" if a link is proven — as the UAE takes custody of the accused Omani co-pilot.
Saudi Arabia will conduct the preliminary investigation into the Omani co-pilot accused of attacking the captain of flydubai flight FZ1073 before he is handed over to UAE authorities, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel.
The UAE has formally opened an investigation into the flydubai FZ1073 cockpit attack, asserting jurisdiction over the case and preparing to take custody of the Omani co-pilot after Saudi Arabia's preliminary probe — while the stabbed hero pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar, was airlifted from Tabuk to Dubai following emergency surgery.