Iran-backed Houthis attacked Muslim pilgrims travelling to perform Umrah at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 300.
Footage shows pilgrims in ihram waiting to board their flights moments before a missile struck the terminal.
There is a grim historical echo.
In 1987, a political demonstration promoted by the Islamic Republic during Hajj in Mecca escalated into deadly clashes and a stampede. Saudi figures put the death toll at 402, including 275 Iranians and 42 pilgrims from other countries. Accounts of how the violence began remain disputed.
The events are different, but the pattern is stark: Tehran and its proxies bring political conflict into the path of Muslims travelling to holy sites. The regime claims to defend Islam while its proxy attacks an airport full of pilgrims.
— The Iran Watcher (@TheIranWatcher) October 12, 2026
Iran’s top national security official on Sunday called Washington’s response to Tehran’s demands over the Strait of Hormuz “inadequate” and threatened to strike American-linked undersea communications cables, data centers, and artificial intelligence facilities across the region if war resumes.
Iran Calls U.S. Hormuz Response ‘Inadequate,’ Threatens to Hit Undersea Cables, AI Centers if War Resumes
Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the powerful body overseeing the Islamic Republic’s national security and defense policies, delivered the warning as Tehran sought concessions from President Donald Trump’s administration despite an ongoing U.S. naval blockade and mounting economic pressure.
Speaking to Iranian state broadcaster Press TV, Rezaei put the value of American-linked technology infrastructure in the region at more than $2 trillion and warned that those assets could become targets in another war.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Major General Mohsen Rezaei said that Iran was prepared for renewed hostilities and would respond with a broader military plan and capabilities it has yet to demonstrate.
“We are fully prepared to demonstrate new capabilities if war breaks out again,” he said.
He noted that valuable US assets in the UAE and around Hormuz remained outside Iran’s target list, underscoring the additional options available to Tehran.
“America has highly valuable assets in the UAE and around the Strait of Hormuz that we have not yet included among our targets,” Rezaei said.
He warned that renewed war would expose cables, data centers, artificial intelligence facilities, and other regional sites to destruction, estimating the cables and technology facilities in the region at more than $2 trillion.
“If any new confrontation occurs today, we will confront the enemy with a much broader and more comprehensive plan,” he said.
#Iran #IranWar #WestAsia #USA
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 11, 2026
Trump is working with Turkey and Pakistan to complete the land blockade of the Islamic Republic by shutting its last major overland trade routes.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the United States is targeting the regime’s overland trade routes while pursuing the seizure of roughly $1 billion in Iranian cryptocurrency assets.
Qatar is the latest regional country to turn against the Islamic Republic after years of failed engagement and escalating attacks. Former Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani now calls the Islamic Republic the “main enemy” of the Persian Gulf states and warns that the threat facing the GCC is existential.
Trump is going after the offshore fortunes the Islamic Republic’s elites have amassed while Iranians endure economic collapse. That is what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is targeting when he says, “They can’t go see their plastic surgeon in London, their girlfriend in Paris, and their money in Geneva.”
