Category: Saudi Arabia

Iran’s regime threatens US, tries to recruit Iranians to fight & support Houthi’s in attack against Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is being attacked with ballistic missiles, losing ground in Yemen, and still appears unwilling to fully confront the Houthis.

The Houthis have already crossed a major threshold, launching ballistic missiles and drones against Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, striking Saudi infrastructure and wounding at least 73 people. Yet they have continued attacking, while Saudi-backed forces have now lost the strategic port of Mocha, roughly 80 km from Bab al-Mandab.

Iran Security Chief Warns Trump: ‘The Straits Have Changed’ — ‘Damage Control Won’t Stop What’s Coming’

Getting desperate:

The Islamic Republic is now texting Iranians to come learn how to fight because its existing military and Basij structures are no longer enough to project strength. The new “Janfada” mobilization is moving from propaganda into training, with the Islamic Republic announcing plans for 1,000 so-called national resistance battalions and mass-texting people about military and relief training.

The Islamic Republic’s police chief just threatened Iranians with another massacre on state TV: “Our finger is on the trigger.”

Ahmadreza Radan called protesters “homeland-sellers” and “enemies,” warning they would be dealt with “firmly.” He then put the police alongside the IRGC, Army and Basij, declaring that all have their fingers on the trigger.

Iran’s top security official warned President Donald Trump on Monday that the strategic balance around the region’s critical waterways has changed, ruling out negotiations until Tehran’s sweeping conditions are met and declaring that American “damage control won’t stop what’s coming.”

“Don’t get distracted by the U.S. president’s mixed signals — from ‘no negotiations’ to ‘we’re ready to talk,’” Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s powerful Supreme National Security Council, wrote on X.

“The stakes around oil and the straits have changed. Damage control won’t stop what’s coming,” he continued.

“No talks until Iran’s conditions are met. Period!”

Continue reading Iran’s regime threatens US, tries to recruit Iranians to fight & support Houthi’s in attack against Saudi Arabia

Iran War: Saudi Arabia seeks Israeli help against Houthis

According to a report by veteran journalist Danny Zaken in “Israel Hayom” – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has reportedly approached several Middle Eastern countries for help against the Houthis — including an indirect request to Israel for intelligence and other assistance.

According to regional diplomatic sources, Riyadh contacted other Gulf states and Egypt directly, while the request to Israel was reportedly conveyed through US Central Command. The goal: help prevent the Houthis from threatening or closing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Who Is Running Iran?

Report Exposes Power Struggle at Top of the Regime

FILE - Motorbikes drive past a billboard depicting Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Al

A fierce power struggle is gripping the top of Iran’s regime, with hardline security figures pushing to escalate the conflict with the United States as questions mount over who is actually wielding authority in the absence of the country’s unseen Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

Pakistan Warns Iran to Keep the Houthis Away from Saudi Arabia

Pakistan delivered a warning to Iran on Wednesday that if Tehran’s terrorist proxies in Yemen, the Houthis, continue attacking cities and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan may be obliged to intervene under its defense pact with the Saudis.

UN Security Council meets on Yemen after Houthis seize city of Mocha

Ghalibaf says Yemeni people will ‘triumph’ after Houthis capture Mocha

Iran’s parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has backed Yemen’s Houthis in a post on X.

  • The UN Security Council is holding a meeting in New York on the situation in Yemen, as the Houthis rapidly advance on the Red Sea coast, threatening to gain more leverage over the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
  • The Houthis report about 40 air strikes were launched by Saudi Arabia in a new salvo following their attacks on oil facilities and civilian infrastructure deep inside the kingdom.
  • Projectiles hit several areas in Iran’s southern Sirik district with multiple explosions heard across the coastal region, as oil prices hold at $100 a barrel with no end in sight to the war.
  • US President Donald Trump claims the ongoing war with Iran will end immediately after the US November midterm elections and predicts oil prices will then quickly decline.
  • US military lacks capacity to blockade Bab al-Mandeb Strait as Yemen’s Houthis close in

    Former US Ambassador to Algeria and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Henry Ensher, says Yemen’s Houthis could take control of the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and that the US lacks the capacity to stop it from happening.

    Houthis claim major attack on Saudi base in response to 300 air strikes

    • Yemen’s Houthis say they launched a large-scale ballistic missile and drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait and claimed “direct hits”. There was no immediate response from Riyadh.
    • The Iran-backed rebels say they captured more strategic islands in the southern Red Sea, strengthening their control of a crucial Bab al-Mandeb shipping route.
    • Iran says a planned meeting with Gulf states regarding control over the Strait of Hormuz has been postponed by Saudi Arabia over the recent events in Yemen.
    • Ground fighting intensifies on several fronts in Yemen as Saudi-backed government forces carry out air strikes on Houthi positions in an attempt to retake Mocha, days after the Houthis captured the strategic port city.

Iran-Backed Houthi Terrorists Attack Saudi Cities; Women and Children Injured

The Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen launched drone and missile attacks against four cities in southern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, injuring at least 70 people and inflicting significant damage on Saudi oil facilities.

The Houthis claimed successful attacks on an air base in the Saudi city of Khamis Mushait, plus oil facilities in Abha, Najran, and Jazan. Jazan is a Red Sea port located near the Yemeni border that hosts one of the largest refineries in Saudi Arabia. The Jazan refinery was targeted by Houthi attacks several times in August.

Satellite photos showed smoke billowing from the refinery in Jazan and the oil distribution center in Abha, but few additional details about the strikes were released by the Saudi government.

The casualty count stood at 73 people injured as of late Tuesday morning, with no reported fatalities. Saudi officials said women and children were among the wounded.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi privately expressed support for the assassination of President Trump.

According to Iranian MP Mojtaba Zarei, Araghchi was asked during a closed National Security Commission meeting about killing Trump in retaliation and responded that whoever carries it out, “I will kiss his hand.”

The remarks come as Trump’s campaign of powerful economic sanctions and the naval blockade has shredded the Islamic Republic’s economic and strategic capacity, choking its oil lifeline and increasing pressure on a system already struggling to sustain itself and its proxies.

Araghchi is portrayed as part of the Islamic Republic’s so-called “moderate” faction, yet publicly he has dismissed threats to assassinate Trump as the rhetoric of “extremists.” There is no real moderate faction.

The distinction is fake. They serve the same Islamic Republic, defend the same system and only change their language depending on the audience.

Trump is winning the confrontation, and behind closed doors, an Iranian MP says the Islamic Republic’s supposed “moderate” foreign minister would celebrate his assassination.

Trump v Iran: Tehran should “put up the white flag of surrender”

Trump threatens to bomb Oman if it gets in way of Iran deal

Why has Trump threatened to bomb Oman – for a second time?

President Donald Trump threatened Monday to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of a US deal with Iran on the Strait of Hormuz and called for Tehran to surrender in a war that has become a growing political burden.

Control of the waterway, which Iran has effectively closed since the conflict began on February 28, remains at the heart of the deadlock between Tehran and Washington.

With whipsawing fuel prices and public opposition to the war weighing on Republicans ahead of November’s midterm elections, Trump has faced mounting pressure to end a stalemate that has dragged on for nearly six months.

“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump told Fox News journalist Trey Yingst, referring to ongoing talks between Oman and Iran on control of the strait, which lies between the two countries.

Oman, a US ally in the Gulf, has not publicly commented on Trump’s remarks.

Tehran and Muscat have been discussing for weeks future navigation arrangements through the route, and Iran’s foreign ministry said earlier Monday the two sides were working on a joint declaration.

Trump calls on Iran to surrender; IRGC threatens with ‘maximum deterrence’

More…

Trump Doubles Down on Declaring Strait of Hormuz U.S. Territory

Iran Threatens to Break U.S. Blockade

  • Trump repeats declaration that he’ll make Strait of Hormuz a “US territory”, calling it “a great idea”.
  • Iran goes “fully offensive”: Tehran threatens escalation if diplomacy fails, after last week’s military command reshuffle.
  • MoU expires: Iran says the US-Iran agreement is effectively dead & “irrelevant”. 
  • Trump threatens Oman: Trump warns “we’ll bomb the s**t out of them.”
  • Backchannel denied: Tehran rejects Trump’s claim of IRGC communications.
US President Donald Trump during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, U

President Donald Trump doubled down Monday on declaring the Strait of Hormuz U.S. territory, asserting that Washington has “total control” of the strategic waterway as Tehran threatened a military attack to break the U.S. naval blockade and declared a shift toward a more offensive posture.

  • US President Donald Trump says Iran should “put up the white flag of surrender” as the two nations’ memorandum of understanding (MoU) expired on Monday. He tells Fox News that his administration is holding talks with the Revolutionary Guards – a claim denied by the IRGC.
  • Speaking in Tehran, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei says “gross” US violations rendered the MoU deadline “entirely moot”, adding that Iran’s forces are ready to respond if attacked. The Iran-US MoU, signed in June, expired as talks to end the war have been deadlocked.
  • Senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Brigadier General Yadollah Javani says Iran’s defensive posture is poised to shift to an offensive one under a new “maximum deterrence” policy.

Report: Iranians Facing 400 Percent Food Price Increases as U.S. Blockade Crushes Economy

Iran: Tehran says it agreed coordinates of Hormuz route with Oman

Iran war updates: Trump says war to end ‘pretty soon’, Hormuz deal nears

 

  • US President Donald Trump expects the war on Iran to end “pretty soon,” telling reporters during questions on global and domestic energy prices that he does not think “they can go much longer.”
  • Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian states that the US has applied “maximum” economic pressure, noting that Iran loses roughly 230 million cubic meters of gas daily as a result of US-Israeli attacks.
  • Yemeni forces reported that Houthi strikes using suicide drones and ballistic missiles left at least 18 troops dead.

Iran Claims to Be in ‘Final Stages’ of Deal with Oman to Control Strait of Hormuz

US Central Command has said US forces have now redirected a total of 48 commercial vessels to enforce a US naval blockade of Iran.

  • Yemeni forces reported that Houthi attacks using suicide drones and ballistic missiles killed at least 18 soldiers.
  • Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree previously announced that the group had carried out attacks using “a large number of ballistic missiles and drones” on Yemen’s Emergency Forces posts in Marib and Hadramout. He said the strikes had killed personnel and destroyed weaponry and vehicles.


 Iran’s Most Powerful Weapon Is Time—Here’s How To Turn It Against Them–Gen. David Deptula

The objective should not be destruction for its own sake or an agreement that trades substantial economic relief for temporary or unverifiable promises.

The objective should be to change Iran’s strategic calculation.

Iran must come to believe that each additional month of resistance will carry increasing cost, resulting in less revenue, fewer military options, greater isolation, diminished military capability, and a weaker negotiating position. At the same time, the United States should make clear that a verifiable agreement remains available if Iran abandons the behavior that created the crisis.

  • Iran’s foreign ministry says a deal with Oman on a route through the Strait of Hormuz is being “finalised”, but the US and Israel still pose a danger to ships in the vital waterway.
  • Yemen’s Houthis claim to have attacked a Saudi oil vessel in the Gulf of Aden, forcing it to turn around.
  • Iran’s deputy FM Kazem Gharibabadi says a final understanding between Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz is “on the verge of being finalised”, with almost all matters resolved.
  • The US military says it has redirected a total of 48 vessels since declaring its naval blockade of Iran

US president Trump: negotiations with Iran are “moving along very nicely”

Oil prices have fallen below $80 a barrel….

Any agreement between Iran and Oman on future shipping arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz would not lead to the immediate reopening of the strategic waterway, Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reports, citing an informed source.

Trump said late on Tuesday a deal with Iran could come within hours, but Tehran has repeatedly denied having direct negotiations with Washington.

 

Iran says US not part of ongoing talks with Oman to reopen Strait

  • Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB has quoted an informed source as saying ongoing talks between Iran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz “have nothing to do with the United States”.
  • Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reported “progress” in the talks on the strait, while US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested an agreement could be reached as early as “today or tomorrow”.
  • The Houthis say they have attacked a Saudi oil tanker, named the Wafa, in the northern Red Sea with ballistic missiles.

Qatar Says U.S.-Iran Diplomacy ‘Ongoing’ but No Direct Talks Scheduled

Peace In Our Time, Again

Robert Spencer

Trump threatens to hit Iran ‘very hard’

Iraq condemns US-Saudi attacks

  • Iraq condemns US-Saudi strikes on the country, with the Popular Mobilisation Forces saying 20 of its fighters were killed, while 32 others were wounded.
 

Trump says US to deliver ‘beating’ to Iran after bases again targeted

US president promises major escalation a day after new Iran attacks and his White House meeting with Netanyahu.

US President Donald Trump arrives at the White House after flying on Marine One

United States President Donald Trump has pledged a major escalation against Iran after the latest Iranian attacks on US military sites in the Middle East.

Trump made the threat in an expletive-laden interview with Fox News reporter Trey Yingst on Wednesday.

Iran missiles target US forces in Jordan after a five-day pause in war

The US military says it has successfully intercepted a barrage of missiles fired by Iran at its troops in Jordan.

Continue reading Trump threatens to hit Iran ‘very hard’

Esposito Kicked the Bucket

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Here’s an Arab Muslim singing his praises:

“John Esposito was an early and courageous scholar who challenged Orientalist misrepresentations of Islam and Muslims in an era of deep polarisation”

Nothing “courageous” about this cretin. Even if he was only in it for the $$$$, he did a lot of damage to a time honoured institution of higher learning.

John Esposito transformed how the West understood Islam

By Nader Hashemi

The pioneering scholar, who died on July 15, challenged Orientalist orthodoxies and reshaped the study of Islam and Muslim societies.

Hmm, Esposito was certainly challenged, but he never came out and took it up with anyone who challenged him. He was at best a creepy wakademic tosspot.

Here’s a more realistic picture of Esposito’s misdeeds:

John Esposito: Apologist of Islam or Messenger of Islamic Da’wah?

By David Bukay/ American Thinker

John Esposito is a professor at Georgetown University and the head of the “Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.”  He is considered one of the foremost apologists of radical Islam in American academia.  The term “apologist” means one who denies events and activities of a group or who uses selective perceptions and cognitive biases to whitewash reality.  However, it is more fitting to view Esposito as a Da’i, or an Islamic propagator who uses Da’wah, the propagation of deceit.

From the very beginning, Islam has been spread by two arms: the violent jihad and the political Da’wah (16:125)i.  Da’wah serves as a diplomatic means of religious legitimization through which to invite all human beings to accept Islam as the only supreme and perfect religion (5:3; 9:33). According to Da’wah, which preaches the message of Allah’s infinite wisdom (6:38), it is in humanity’s best interest to submit to Islam (7:158; 21:107).  Since Islam is perfect, no one may doubt it, use logic to determine its validity, or judge it by human conceptions (4:115; 5:72-3; 10:69-70; 29:68; 36:64-5).  Any of these transgressions constitutes heresy and warrants the death penalty.

Continue reading Esposito Kicked the Bucket

Trump warns of unprecedented ‘massive attack’ on Iran

The US-Israeli war on Iran has triggered a global energy crisis

U.S. VOWS TO PUNISH IRAN AFTER HOUTHIS STRIKE TANKERS

  • Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait have reported retaliatory missile and drone attacks from Iran after a 12th consecutive day of US strikes, including an attack on Kuwait’s Al-Abdali border crossing with Iraq.
  • US President Trump says he is considering a “massive attack” on Iran, “bigger than ever before”, and that he is close to making a decision.
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking on the sidelines of the ASEAN conference in Manila, says Iran is “begging for a deal” but are not ready to keep to one.
  • Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says a tanker is ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz, while Yemen’s Houthis also claim missile and drone strikes on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.
Houthi supporters hold a rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, July 17, 2026, against the Saudi-led coalition. Banner in Arabic reads, “All Saudi oil facilities are targets to our missiles and drones.”

Trump: US will use Iranian money in its ‘possession’ to pay for damage to ships, cargo

The US president says on his Truth Social platform that, from now on, “Any and all damages done to Ships, Cargo, or anything related thereto, will be paid for by Iranian Money that the United States has in its possession, and controls”.

“These damages may be very substantial but, nevertheless, this is the fair and equitable thing to do”, Trump added.

Tehran has nearly $100bn in assets frozen by other countries and beyond its control.

 

China Demands Middle East Parties ‘Remain Calm’ as Houthis Threaten Its Oil Tankers

The Chinese Communist Party has historically supported Iranian interests in the Middle East and Iranian terrorist proxies such as Hamas. Communist leaders, including genocidal dictator Xi Jinping, have maintained a marked distance from Iran during the current conflict with the United States, however, repeatedly demanding that all sides of the war respect freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have blockaded on and off since March. China is heavily dependent on the Middle East for its oil and other fossil fuel supplies, placing it in an especially vulnerable position despite not being an active combatant in the conflict.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry pronounced Beijing “deeply concerned” on Thursday over the ongoing war between Iran and its proxies and the United States in the Middle East, demanding all parties “remain calm.”

Iran Defiant:

Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker has mocked the US military strategy aimed at degrading Tehran’s ability to control the Strait of Hormuz, suggesting it has backfired.

US State Department tells citizens in Middle East to prepare for potential flight cancellations due to Iran war

The US State Department has issued an advisory urging US citizens in West Asia to be prepared for emergency travel situations due to potential flight cancellations and disruptions to air travel as a result of the Iran war.

This warning comes amid President Trump’s latest threat to carry out a “massive attack” on Iran.

Iran War: Trump threatens to bomb a power plant for each ship strike

  • President Trump warns the US will bomb and destroy critical Iranian infrastructure every time Tehran shoots at ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
  • The United States attacks Iran for an 11th consecutive night as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the cost of the warhas reached $37.5bn.
  • The Revolutionary Guard launches more retaliatory attackson Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, with multiple drones and missiles intercepted.
  • Iran says it will “confront any hostility” after Trump threatens to attack a suspected Iranian nuclear site called Pickaxe Mountain “pretty soon and very heavily”.

Iran attacks Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, says 2 tankers in Hormuz on fire

Five Iranian drones intercepted by Jordan

Jordan says it has neutralised five incoming drones from Iran, the country’s state news agency reported on Tuesday.

The Iranian army has announced that it targeted the US Sheikh Isa military base in Bahrain with drones, the state news agency Fars reports.

 US Forces Finish Tenth Consecutive Night of Strikes After Two Ships Hit Near Strait of Hormuz and Iran Fires Additional Strikes at Jordan

Tensions continued to rise in the Middle East on Monday after US forces continued a nine-day bombing streak against Iran on Sunday, following the death of two US service members killed in Iranian attacks. 

US Central Command forces completed a ninth consecutive round of nightly strikes against Iran on Sunday, aimed at “holding Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief’s direction.”

  • Iran continues retaliatory attacks across the region after a 10th consecutive night of US bombing, with the Revolutionary Guard saying it targeted US assets in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.
  • “Massive fires” broke out on two tankers that “took an unsafe route” in the Strait of Hormuz, says the IRGC.
  • Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen declare a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia threatening to further disrupt the global energy supply.
  • US President Donald Trump warns Iran it will pay “many times over” for the deaths of American soldiers after a week in which at least three US personnel were killed.
  • Qatar has condemned a statement by the Houthi military spokesman accusing Saudi Arabia of blockading the Yemeni people and preventing maritime navigation after he declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia on Monday.
  • The announcement of the naval blockade came days after the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, threatened a “siege” on the kingdom in retaliation for an attack on Sanaa International Airport last week.