US-Israel-Iran war: Turkey, Qatar sign defence pact as Trump warns Tehran, Hormuz risks persist

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains approximately 65 per cent below pre-war levels, according to a report released Friday by UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

The agency recorded 139 outbound and 169 inbound vessel transits in the latest seven-day period, alongside eight maritime incidents across the Strait of Hormuz, Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.

UKMTO said 163 Iran-US conflict-related maritime incidents had been recorded since February 28. The maritime threat level in the Strait of Hormuz remains severe, meaning an attack is assessed as highly likely.

The report also recorded 722 satellite-navigation interference reports in 2026, including six in the latest week.

Israel’s Mossad chief, Roman Gofman, has arrived in Washington for high-level talks with Trump administration officials on the war with Iran, Axios has reported.

Gofman, one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest confidants, is also scheduled to meet CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

Israel is making every effort to persuade US President Donald Trump to launch another major military campaign against Tehran.

The United States on Friday denied that Iran's Revolutionary Guards had destroyed a US radar system in Bahrain, saying US forces had intercepted two Iranian drones headed for the country.

"The IRGC launched two one-way attack drones toward Bahrain and both were shot down by U.S. forces," US Central Command said on X, adding there were no injuries or damage.

Earlier in the day, the Guards issued a statement saying its forces "targeted and destroyed the US aggressors' early-warning radar" in Bahrain.

Yemen's internationally recognised government is fortifying positions on the outskirts of Aden province, home to their de facto capital, as their Iran-backed Houthi foes seize hilltops overlooking the area, three military officials told AFP.

Houthi fighters are now advancing east, consolidating their gains near the Red Sea while also moving closer to the Gulf of Aden. They have been taking hold of strategic hilltops in the Al Madaribah wal Ara district overlooking Aden province, the sources said.

"We received high-level directives to establish military fortifications west and north of Aden Governorate, as the threat to the government's interim capital draws nearer," one of the military officials said.

The fortifications include stacking up sandbags and digging tunnels.

All the sources requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Government forces have repeatedly tried to regain control of the Red Sea coast to no avail, with battles killing dozens on both sides in the past couple of days, according to government and Houthi sources.

Another of the military officials described the fortification outside Aden as a long-overdue precautionary measure.

The third military source, a field officer on the ground, said the Houthis were advancing east of the strait towards the Gulf of Aden coast after taking large parts of Al Madaribah wal Ara district adjacent to Aden province.

Nearby also lies the mountainous region of Al Maqatirah, home to a road serving as the main gateway to the city of Taiz, which has been besieged by the Houthis for weeks.

The source said Al Maqatirah had been captured by the Houthis, complicating government efforts to retake Taiz and opening the door to further advances in Al Madaribah.

Turkey and Qatar signed a mutual defence agreement on Friday during talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Istanbul.

According to the Turkish presidency, the two countries agreed to adopt a unified stance against external armed attacks on either country and consult on security threats.

The agreement also provides for expanded joint military exercises, defence-industry cooperation and personnel training.

Erdogan said the countries would work together to prevent renewed conflict in the Gulf and promote dialogue and peace. Details of how the mutual defence commitments would be implemented were not immediately clear.

Iran told the UN nuclear watchdog this month that discussions on nuclear monitoring cannot proceed while it is under threat from military attacks.

According to a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, circulated to member states on Friday and seen by The Associated Press, Iran insisted discussions on resuming inspections in the country cannot resume amid "a series of persistent, explicit, and public threats by the President of the United States of America … to commit further acts of armed aggression" against Iran "particularly targeting its nuclear facilities."

Iran said the situation won't resolve "until the root causes of the present situation are addressed and the essential requirements for normal safeguards implementation are restored," the report added.

Iran hasn't given IAEA inspectors access to nuclear sites that were affected by Israeli and US strikes during the 12-day war in June 2025. The IAEA also has been unable to verify the status of Iran's stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium since the June bombing.

Iran nevertheless reaffirmed its "firm commitment to resume full implementation of its safeguards obligations as soon as the relevant legal and actual conditions permit it."

The UN nuclear watchdog said the lack of information about Iran's atomic sites and nuclear material is "a matter of proliferation concern" that "needs to be rectified with the utmost urgency." The IAEA noted that it is "fully prepared to resume its safeguards activities in Iran at short notice."

Global oil supplies are expected to exceed demand in the fourth quarter, after increased Gulf exports led to a market surplus in October for the first time since the Iran war, the International Energy Agency said Friday.

Even though attacks on tankers trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz have continued, Gulf shipments reached 18.4 million barrels per day (mb/d) - though that was still 26 percent below prewar levels, the Paris-based agency said in its monthly report.

The UN's nuclear watchdog urged Iran to take "incremental steps" to allow inspectors to return to key nuclear facilities in the Islamic republic, adding such access was "critical" in a report seen by AFP Friday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not had access to key nuclear facilities in Iran since Israel, joined by the United States, launched a 12-day conflict in June 2025 that included strikes on nuclear sites.

Nuclear facilities have also been hit in the latest war, which erupted on February 28, and the IAEA has repeatedly called for access.

In its report, to be discussed at an IAEA board of governors meeting next week, the agency noted that it was "critical" for it to conduct "verification activities in Iran without further delay".

"The director general encourages Iran to consider technical and gradual measures by which conditions are achieved that allow for the return of agency inspectors to Iran," the report said.

"Such incremental steps could pave the way to normal safeguards implementation in Iran while contributing to a confidence-building atmosphere conducive to a wider agreement," it added.

The report detailed correspondence in recent weeks between the IAEA and Iran.

IAEA inspectors were able to visit Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant in September, but have had no access to other facilities.

The IAEA "acknowledged that the military attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities and sites created an unprecedented situation".

But because of a lack of cooperation "the agency is not able to conclude that there has been no diversion of declared nuclear material from peaceful nuclear activities in Iran", the report said.

"The agency's lack of information about ... nuclear material and access to facilities to verify it is a matter of serious proliferation concern," the IAEA said, adding it "needs to be rectified with the utmost urgency".

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Friday that a ship was hit by an explosion after striking a mine in the Strait of Hormuz, where Tehran has sought to restrict navigation.

Since the outbreak of the Middle East war in late February, Tehran has insisted that vessels obtain its authorisation to traverse the strait and has attacked vessels that do not comply.

The United States has in response imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and provides military support to tankers using the vital trade route.

"A few hours ago, a ship carrying liquefied natural gas east of the Strait of Hormuz tried to cross an unauthorised passageway south of the strait, but was hit by a naval mine and exploded violently," the Guards said on Friday.

They did not give the name or origin of the vessel.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said their forces had targeted a US early warning radar system in Bahrain, according to a statement carried by the Iranian state broadcaster on Friday.

There was no immediate confirmation of a strike on Bahrain by Manama or the United States, whose bases and equipment in the Gulf were repeatedly targeted earlier in its eight-month war with Iran.

"A few hours ago, IRGC Aerospace Force fighters targeted and destroyed the US aggressors' early-warning radar on the island of Bahrain in response to the enemy's air aggression against a telecommunications tower in Sirik," the Guards said in the statement, referring to a port city in southern Iran.

"This is a serious warning to the aggressor enemy to stop its aerial provocations and oil smuggling in the Strait of Hormuz," it added in the statement, posted by the state broadcaster on Telegram.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that Sirik in the southern province of Hormozgan had been struck by what it called an “enemy” attack. Citing official sources, IRNA described the strike late on Thursday (Nov. 12) as "military" in nature.

The agency did not identify the attacker, specify the target or give details on damage or casualties. Iran International reported that residents had earlier heard several explosions of unknown origin, per Iran International.

Sirik lies in Hormozgan province near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil-shipping route. There's no independent confirmation of the reported strike.

President Donald Trump has warned Iran that it would face devastating consequences if it killed a senior US official. In a phone interview with Salem News Channel on Thursday, Nov. 12, host Hugh Hewitt asked what would happen if Iran killed a senior American official, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“They will not exist very long any longer,” Trump replied.

The warning came after Bessent was moved from his Washington-area home to a US military base following Iranian "threats" against his life, per US media reports.

A senior Trump administration intelligence official warned in a late-October memo that Iranian plots against US personnel and citizens had reached an advanced stage.

The threat follows heightened US-Iran tensions and reports of alleged Iranian plots targeting American officials. Bessent’s relocation underscores the security concerns surrounding senior administration figures amid the conflict.

Trump did not specify a response or timetable. His remarks signal that Washington views any assassination attempt as a potential trigger for a major escalation.

The UN Security Council unanimously renewed its Yemen sanctions regime against the Iran-backed Houthis on Thursday (Nov. 12), extending targeted asset freezes and travel bans until Nov. 14, 2027.

The UK-drafted measure was adopted by consensus, without a formal recorded vote.

The resolution also condemned the Houthis’ military escalation in Yemen and their cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia, including missile and drone strikes. It demanded an immediate and unconditional cessation of hostilities.

British Ambassador Sarah MacIntosh said the adoption showed the council’s determination to act against “reckless attacks by the Houthis” in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the wider region.

Saudi-led coalition air defences intercepted and destroyed another drone over Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, amid escalating attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement.

Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki announced on Thursday the interception in a statement posted on X, without providing details about the drone's origin, possible damage or casualties.

The latest incident followed multiple missile and drone interceptions across the kingdom.

On Thursday, the coalition also reported intercepting drones over the Riyadh region. Arab News reported two separate interceptions in the capital region, while Anadolu Agency reported interceptions over Riyadh and the Eastern Province.

On Wednesday, Saudi air defences intercepted three cruise missiles targeting Riyadh and two drones heading towards Mecca and southern Saudi Arabia, according to the coalition.

Saudi Civil Defence separately reported that debris from two intercepted ballistic missiles fell in Sabuhah village in the Mecca region.

Yemen's Houthis said Thursday that their forces targeted Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline and an oil facility in the port city of Yanbu on the Red Sea.

Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said in a post on X that one operation "targeted Pumping Station No. 7 on the East-West Pipeline using a drone", while a second "targeted the Yanbu oil facility using a ballistic missile".

He claimed both attacks - as well as two others targeting a Saudi airport and an airbase not far from the Yemeni border - had been successful.

US Vice President JD Vance is considering face-to-face talks with Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei as he takes a leading role in efforts to end the war, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US and Middle Eastern officials and people familiar with the negotiations. President Donald Trump has told senior aides and foreign counterparts that he is open to Vance restarting negotiations with Tehran and has authorised him to negotiate, according to the report. Vance sent Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, a letter in October requesting a meeting, but no date has been set.

Day 257: Trump says US does not 'need a deal with Iran'

Day 256: Iran warns US as Gaza crisis deepens

Day 255: ADNOC vessel sustained damage following attack

Day 254: Trump: Military action on Iran ‘doesn’t seem necessary’

Day 253: UAE rescues 22 crew in Gulf of Oman

Day 252: Iran's Revolutionary Guard lifts its missile-range limit

Day 251: Trump warns Iran of ‘heavy hit’ as Tehran steps up Gulf diplomacy

Day 250: Oman and Iran call for end to war and fresh dialogue

Day 249: US VP Vance says Iran war is 'the reason we lost' midterms