Trump threatens to ramp up bombing of Iran after midterm elections

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A tanker was attacked Thursday while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a British maritime agency said.

The vessel was hit by an "unknown projectile" in the strategic waterway, "resulting in a fire," the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said.

The crew were reported safe, but the damage was as yet unknown, UKMTO added.

The agency did not specify which flag the tanker was flying, nor did it offer its planned route. It also did not say if it was carrying crude or liquefied natural gas.

The Pentagon on Thursday announced the award of a $24.4 billion contract for Raytheon to accelerate production of SM-6 missiles as Washington works to replace the large amount of munitions expended during the Iran war.

The missiles are "critical anti-air and anti-surface warfare munition. This five-year agreement, with two additional option years, will drive faster production," the Pentagon said in a statement.

The deal "provides the defense industry with the long-term predictability needed to expand workforce capacity and secure critical supply chains," the statement added.

Loud explosions were heard Thursday evening in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

The Saba agency, which is affiliated with the Houthis, spoke of "Saudi aggression" on X. It said Saudi attacks also targeted the areas of Saada, Taiz and Amran.

Videos shared online showed large plumes of smoke rising above the city.

After several years of calm, Yemen plunged back into war in July with the Houthis, who control Sanaa and Yemen's Red Sea coastline, against the government backed by Riyadh.

Al-Nahdayn military base seen burning after powerful airstrikes in Sana’a tonight.#Yemen https://t.co/maosihMHnI pic.twitter.com/mlAhJ4xHyE

— Ali Al-Sakani | علي السكني (@Alsakaniali) October 1, 2026

The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Houthis said on Thursday that its forces intercepted two ballistic missiles and four drones fired by the Iran-backed group at the kingdom.

The coalition said on X it "intercepted and destroyed" the missiles and drones over the southern Saudi city of Jazan, near energy and oil facilities already targeted in recent weeks, and Khamis Mushait, a city in the country's southwest that is home to an airbase.

It blamed the attacks on "the Houthi terrorist militia".

The Saudi Civil Defence said debris that fell after a ballistic missile was intercepted in Khamis Mushait province resulted in "limited material damage".

#الدفاع_المدني : سقوط شظايا اعتراض صاروخ باليستي في محافظة خميس مشيط نتج عنه أضرار مادية محدودة. pic.twitter.com/f0vU3FpXas

— الدفاع المدني السعودي (@SaudiDCD) October 1, 2026

No talks about Iran's nuclear programme took place during recent meetings with mediators, reported Iran's official news agency IRNA, citing a source with knowledge of the matter.

Iran asked Iraq to take steps to lift flight restrictions caused by US sanctions and return flights to normal conditions, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday, after a suspension of flights between the two countries amid sweeping US sanctions restricting services to Iranian airlines.

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Tehran was likely involved in an attack by a pilot on a flydubai flight to Israel and that Iran would be "hit very hard" if it was.

The co-pilot allegedly assaulted the captain before passengers managed to save the plane from crashing. Israel's prime minister said the man had undergone "Islamist radical indoctrination."

"I would say the answer, based on what I'm hearing, is yes but we're working on it right now," Trump said when asked by reporters at the White House whether Iran was involved in the incident on the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.

On whether the United States would retaliate against Iran if it was responsible for the attack, Trump replied: "Oh, they'll be hit very hard, don't worry."

The US leader's threat of retaliation came as he took a harsher tone on the stalled Iran war overall.

Iran has offered to allow nuclear inspectors into the country if sanctions are eased, Bloomberg News reported Thursday evening.

Saudi Arabia says the suspect in Wednesday's flydubai plane attack has been handed over to the United Arab Emirates.

The U.S. military is dispatching roughly 9,000 troops aboard a group of ships to the Middle East, a U.S. official said Thursday, as President Donald Trump warned anew that new strikes against Iran could be on the horizon.

The group of ships together carry over 7,000 sailors and 2,000 Marines.

It includes the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, which recently deployed with the cruiser USS Chosin, and the USS Makin Island amphibious readiness group, which includes the USS John P. Murtha and USS Anchorage amphibious landing ships.

Given the personnel already in place in the Middle East, the move would bring the U.S. naval presence to an unusually high number of more than 20,000 sailors and Marines and hundreds of aircraft.

Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said on X on Thursday that he had discussed the Saudi-US strategic defence partnership and coordination to strengthen regional security and stability with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Their call follows renewed attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis. Riyadh has also been strengthening its regional defence partnerships amid wider tensions involving Iran and its allies.

In a call with @SecWar, we reviewed the Saudi-US strategic defense partnership and discussed coordinating our efforts to strengthen regional security and stability. We also explored several regional and international topics of mutual interest.

— Khalid bin Salman خالد بن سلمان (@kbsalsaud) October 1, 2026

The Trump administration on Thursday imposed fresh sanctions on Iran, targeting its rail and automotive conglomerates and international suppliers to the sectors, the Treasury Department said, in the latest US push to isolate Tehran economically.

The US has imposed a blockade on Iranian oil going through the Strait of Hormuz which has forced Tehran to rely more on autos and rail for transporting petroleum, fertiliser, chemicals and other goods. Thursday's sanctions target those alternatives, according to the Treasury Department.

The sanctions designate Iran Khodro Company, or IKCO, and SAIPA Iranian Automobile Manufacturing Company, or SAIPA. Treasury said the two companies represent more than 90% of Iran's domestic auto market.

Treasury also designated the state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Railway Company, which provides passenger and freight services, the Raja Passenger Trains Company and Sherkat-E Rah Ahan-E Khamle-O-Naghle, also known as the Railway Transportation Company, which it said is a top private freight line.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the action, "directly targets Iran’s enablers and lays the groundwork for the United States and our partners to drain the regime’s revenue once and for all."

The Lebanese army said it had foiled an attempt to smuggle around 245 kilograms of highly explosive TNT, along with four explosive devices, from Syria into Lebanon.

In a statement issued Thursday evening, the army said that on October 1, "as a result of monitoring and surveillance operations along the northern and eastern borders, a Lebanese army unit seized around 245 kilograms of highly explosive TNT, four explosive devices, eight detonators, as well as electrical wires used for detonators, as they were being smuggled from Syrian territory into Lebanon."

The army said the smugglers fled toward Syrian territory as soon as an army patrol arrived at the site. The seized materials were handed over to the relevant authorities, while efforts and coordination are ongoing to identify and arrest those involved.

Lebanese security forces have stepped up measures along the Lebanon-Syria border, as well as at border crossings. In recent weeks, they have increased coordination with Syrian authorities to tighten border controls and combat infiltration and smuggling, while several unofficial crossings have been closed, particularly in the eastern Beqaa and Baalbek-Hermel regions.

بتاريخ ١ /١٠ /٢٠٢٦، ونتيجة عمليات الرصد والمراقبة عند الحدود الشمالية والشرقية، ضبطت وحدة من الجيش حوالي ٢٤٥ كلغ من مادة الـ TNT الشديدة الانفجار، و٤ عبوات ناسفة ومفجِّر عبوات عدد ٨، بالإضافة إلى أسلاك كهربائية خاصة بالمفجِّرات، أثناء تهريبها من الأراضي السورية إلى الداخل… pic.twitter.com/XEqsOt3A9c

— الجيش اللبناني (@LebarmyOfficial) October 1, 2026

Israeli militant settlers shot two Palestinians, killing one and injuring the other, in an attack on the village of Yasuf in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Thursday, according to Palestinian officials.

In the latest incident, settlers shot Mashhour Yassin, 51, during an attack on his home on the outskirts of Yasuf, said village council head Jumaa Abdel Fattah.

The assailants came from the direction of a settler outpost built near the village about two months ago, Fattah said.

"The settlers have been attacking the village continuously since the outpost was established," he added.

Emotional moments as a father embraces his son, Mashhour Yassin, for the final time after he was killed by settlers’ gunfire in the village of Yasuf, Salfit. pic.twitter.com/ammjtmbSZQ

— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) October 1, 2026

Israeli airline El Al on Thursday said it would operate special flights to repatriate Israelis in Dubai after UAE airline flydubai suspended its flights to and from Israel a day earlier.

"Starting tomorrow (Friday): El Al will operate special rescue flights from Dubai to Tel Aviv," the company said in a statement.

"The first flight will depart from Tel Aviv in the morning and leave Dubai for Tel Aviv at 11:00, LY974. An additional flight, LY972, will depart Dubai at 13:00," it added.

A spokesperson for the airline told AFP there would be an update once permission was granted for additional flights.

Flydubai announced it was suspending flights to and from Israel on Wednesday, pending an investigation into an altercation on a Tel Aviv-bound flight which was forced to divert.

Iran said accusations linking Tehran to a suspected plot against an airbase in the UK were baseless and summoned the British ambassador in Tehran over the issue, state media reported on Thursday.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Wednesday that Britain had "strong indications" that Iran was involved in the suspected plot against the airbase which is used by US forces to strike Iran.

US President Donald Trump said in a Time magazine interview published Thursday that he won't now accept proposals from Iran that "he wouldn't have approved a year ago".

He left open the possibility of resuming bombing Iran after the 3 November election. He refused to offer details, telling journalists, "I can’t tell you that because look, you know, you’re asking, where are you going to bomb?"