Middle East war: Trump warns US may hit Iran ‘a little bit further’ as IRGC threatens US bases, Netanyahu calls for regime change in Tehran

Asian stocks sank again Friday as tech firms took another beating from investors increasingly losing faith in the sector, with the traditional safe haven yen and government bonds benefiting from the risk-off mood.

Since AI-linked companies hit record highs in June, their equity prices have been pummelled by concerns they were overvalued, their huge outlays on infrastructure and hardware might not return a profit and, more recently, their servicing costs were spiralling.

That has combined with an Iran war-fuelled surge in oil prices to more than $100 that has ramped up inflation, forced central banks to hike interest rates and sent government borrowing costs to multi-decade highs.

Speaking to reporters at the White House before departing for Iowa on Thursday, Trump said: “This should have been done a long time ago by other presidents. The Iran war — and we’ve knocked the hell out of them, and we may do it a little bit further.”

He also said the UnS was not negotiating with Iran and suggested action could come soon: “No, I think we’re not negotiating with – we are going to have something one way or the other. It’ll happen fairly soon.”

Trump framed the potential escalation around preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, saying: “We can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.” He did not specify a target, timetable, or the scale of any additional operation.

In response, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that continued US naval escorts through what it called “mined waterways” could trigger direct action against American bases in the Middle East. It also claimed three additional vessels had struck mines west of the Strait of Hormuz.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has directed Israel's military, Mossad, and security agencies to pursue regime change in Iran, framing it as the sole path to neutralise Tehran's existential nuclear danger. In a Persian-language Instagram post, he thanked Iranian civilians for their support and pledged to defend their freedom alongside US President Donald Trump for a peaceful future. "I will continue to defend the freedom and rights of the Iranian people... President Trump and I are doing everything we can to create a better future." The comments, made five days before Israel's October 27 Knesset election, come amid tight polls showing his Likud party and right-wing bloc hovering near a majority, while critics question if military action alone can achieve overthrow after past strikes damaged but did not topple Tehran.

Iran’s arrogance is now visible from space, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who assailed Iran’s alleged financing of terrorism, nuclear acquisition, and the “lavish lifestyles of the IRGC elite.”

Highlighting satellite photos of a key important oil terminal, Bessent shared before-and-after imagery of Kharg Island, Iran’s principal crude-export hub in the Gulf.

“Before,” he wrote, “tankers filled Iran’s main oil-loading terminal. After: no crude tankers in sight.”

He then asserted: “Kharg Island is now nothing more than a monument to the one thing the Iranian regime can still produce: failure.”

Bessent contrasted that with the Iranian people impoverished not by sanctions alone, but by a regime that spends scarce national wealth on confrontation and repression.

Bessent lambasted the regime in Tehran: “The regime’s arrogance and belligerence continue to punish ordinary Iranians.”

He stated that Iran’s leadership has chosen confrontation over compromise, ideology over prosperity, and regional adventurism over the economic survival of its own people.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent launched a scathing attack on Tehran, asserting that Washington's aggressive economic offensive, dubbed "Operation Economic Outcast", has successfully crippled Iran’s crude export apparatus and severed the regime's principal financial lifeline.

In a post on X, Bessent highlighted the visible depletion of oil shipping traffic around Kharg Island, Iran's primary maritime export hub in the Persian Gulf, claiming the facility has been brought to a virtual standstill, showcasing a graphic video. 

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Jean-Noël Barrot, France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, have discussed ways to strengthen and develop strategic relations between the two countries across various fields during a telephone call.

The two top diplomats also discussed a range of regional and international issues of shared interest and exchanged views on the latest developments in the Middle East.

They also reviewed ways to support efforts aimed at consolidating regional and international peace and security.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned escalating hostilities in Yemen and continued Houthi attacks on civilian targets in Saudi Arabia, calling them “totally unacceptable”.

In a post on X, Guterres said the violence was causing immense civilian suffering and adding to regional tensions. He urged all sides to exercise restraint and called for a political path forward for Yemen.

The Saudi-led coalition said a ballistic missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi movement towards Najran in Saudi Arabia was intercepted and destroyed.

The coalition announced the development in a post on X.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its naval blockade against Iran has reached 100 days, claiming it has prevented Iran from exporting at least $25 billion worth of crude oil.

In a post on X, CENTCOM said the blockade had constrained the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) ability to fund proxy militias, criminal networks and terrorism. It added that there had been no maritime exports or imports to Iran, apart from humanitarian aid permitted by US forces.

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