Iran urges US to meet demands as Gulf nations strengthen military cooperation

Highlights
Indian airline IndiGo has extended the suspension of flights to and from Jeddah and Madinah until November 21 (inclusive), and Riyadh and Dammam until November 30, tweeted the Embassy of India in Riyadh.
Iran announces the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States meets Tehran’s seven conditions, with SNSC Secretary Mohsen Rezaei warning that Washington must provide a clear and explicit response before the waterway can reopen, per IRNA.
Rezaei also dismissed reports of ongoing negotiations or a planned meeting in Qatar as “pure lies,” saying they were intended to push oil prices down and market manipulation by the Trump administration.
Israeli strikes and gunfire killed five people in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, hospital authorities said.
Four people were killed in three separate Israeli strikes in Gaza City, according to Shifa Hospital. In the southern city of Khan Younis, one person was shot dead after crossing the Yellow Line, according to Nasser Hospital.
The Israeli military said it had struck militants in Gaza City but did not immediately comment on the shooting in Khan Younis.
The deaths came amid continued Israeli attacks in Gaza despite a ceasefire agreement that took effect in October 2025. Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 1,600 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began.
Israel's caretaker prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday again urged a national unity government as he warned of threats from Iran, acknowledging an international shift following US elections last week.
"In the very near future, we're going to be confronted by international pressure to accept a nuclear-armed Iran and the preservation of this terror regime that seeks to annihilate us," said Netanyahu, who has led two major bombing campaigns since last year with US support.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday said he saw no need to resume major combat operations against Iran because economic sanctions and other restrictions were working so effectively.
"The economic campaign (against Iran) is so devastating that right now there is no need for major combat operations," Rubio said after a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Paris. "That's what I told our allies here today."
US President Donald Trump "has concluded that for the time being there is no need for major combat operations because we are achieving the same objective by economic means," Rubio said.
But if Iran were to cross "red lines" then the "US military stands ready", said Rubio, warning of a "terrible price" for Tehran.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis on Tuesday claimed attacks targeting Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh's airport and financial hub, further disrupting life in the region's economic powerhouse.
In the early hours of the morning, AFP journalists heard blasts, while residents received a mobile-phone alert urging them to shelter from an "aerial threat". The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it shot down a ballistic missile launched at the city by the group.
The incident came two days after the Houthis struck a psychological blow by hitting a skyscraper belonging to oil giant Aramco in Riyadh's gleaming financial district.
ADNOC Logistics and Services confirms that one of its vessels sustained damage following an attack in the UAE’s territorial waters, in the Arabian Gulf, on the afternoon of 10th November.
Response efforts by the relevant teams are ongoing, and further updates will be provided as additional information becomes available.
Egypt has had a military presence in Saudi Arabia for months, Cairo's top diplomat has said, two weeks after its parliament authorised helping defend the kingdom from Houthi attacks.
Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Egypt was now "strengthening" the deployment, which had not previously been announced.
"We have already military presence there upon request from our brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia," Abdelatty said in an interview with France24 aired on Monday, adding: "We are strengthening that."
Last month, Egypt's parliament approved President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's request to send military support to Saudi Arabia, which is under regular attack from Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis.
The risk of a new escalation between the United States and Iran "has not been completely ruled out", French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday, after Washington suggested there was currently no need for major combat operations.
"The risk of a resumption of strikes and an escalation has not been completely ruled out -- otherwise, we would not have devoted so much time and energy over the past two days to addressing these issues with our American counterpart (Marco Rubio)," Barrot said after chairing a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Paris.
Iran on Tuesday said French accusations that it was responsible for cyberattacks on supermarket fridges last month were "baseless".
"Iran's foreign ministry categorically rejects the French government's baseless and one-sided accusations against Iran regarding alleged cyber activities in France," the ministry said in a statement.
It added that it "strongly condemns this hackneyed policy of levelling accusations against the Islamic republic".
Iran on Tuesday urged the United States to meet its demands for reopening the Strait of Hormuz after President Donald Trump spoke of "positive momentum" towards ending their eight-month war.
Qatar and Pakistan are leading diplomatic efforts to resolve the Middle East war, which broke out with US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in late February.
Tehran has said it could reopen Hormuz, the vital global energy conduit that it has blockaded since the start of the conflict, within two days if Washington meets a raft of conditions.
"The conflict with Iran will not be resolved through military means, nor by intensifying sanctions," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iran's IRNA news agency.
"The only solution is to adopt a language of respect, engage in diplomacy, and address Iran's demands and conditions -- which were outlined in the two-day proposal and remain on the table."
Iran's conditions have included ending the war on all fronts, unfreezing Iranian assets, lifting oil sanctions and ending the US counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
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Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Tuesday that two oil tankers were on fire in the Strait of Hormuz, where the country regularly targets ships that transit without its authorisation.
"Two violating oil tankers, travelling along an unauthorised route in the Strait of Hormuz, have been brought to a halt following massive explosions and are left burning," the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the ideological arm of Iran's military, said in a statement.
The Guards did not specify the names or origins of the tankers.
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states have approved the establishment of a military command headquarters in Kuwait, GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Al Budaiwi said on Tuesday.
The announcement comes as defence ministers from the six-member bloc meet in Bahrain for the 23rd session of the GCC Joint Defence Council to discuss military cooperation and regional security challenges.
The decision comes amid efforts by GCC countries to strengthen military coordination and enhance collective defence capabilities in response to evolving regional security challenges.
The GCC, comprising the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman, has been working to deepen defence integration through joint military structures and closer cooperation among its armed forces.
The bloc already operates a Unified Military Command headquartered in Riyadh, established as part of efforts to strengthen collective security and coordinate defence operations among member states.
Qatar's premier on Tuesday joined talks on the G7 sidelines in the French capital with four European top diplomats and the Saudi foreign minister hours after meeting US President Donald Trump to discuss ending Washington's war with Iran, Paris said.
"The ministers will discuss the situation in the Middle East -- with a particular focus on the Iran crisis and its security and economic repercussions -- both for the region and for the international community as a whole," the French foreign ministry said ahead of the talks.
Trump had said after meeting Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani -- a key mediator who is also Qatar's foreign minister -- that there was momentum toward ending the war with Iran, which erupted on February 28 with the killing of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran on Tuesday urged the United States to meet its demands in a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, after President Donald Trump spoke of "positive momentum" to end their eight-month war.
"The conflict with Iran will not be resolved through military means, nor by intensifying sanctions," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iran's IRNA news agency.
"The only solution is to adopt a language of respect, engage in diplomacy, and address Iran's demands and conditions -- which were outlined in the two-day proposal and remain on the table."
France's foreign minister said Tuesday that Paris ruled out "nothing" to respond to a major cyberattack on hundreds of supermarket fridges in October that it has blamed on Iran.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told FranceinfoTV that Iran's ambassador would be summoned and European-level sanctions would be sought.
"I can also tell you that we rule nothing out and will take all measures -- including those we may not disclose publicly -- that we deem proportionate and necessary to deter any further attacks," he added.
The goal, Barrot said, is "to deter anyone who might be tempted, in Iran or elsewhere, to do it again".
Barrot said Monday that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was behind cyberattacks on supermarkets in the first such large-scale cyber sabotage on French territory.
ADNOC Gas reported its third-quarter net income at $1.34 billion on November 10, double than the previous quarter. The listed company also raised its full-year 2026 net income guidance to at least $4 billion. The board has also approved a quarterly dividend of $940 million.
Net income rose 101 per cent from $665 million in the Q2. EBITDA climbed 70 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $2.03 billion. Domestic gas, LNG, export-traded liquids and sulfur is what contributed towards the rebound. Fatema Al Nuaimi, Chief Executive Officer, credits execution across the business.
Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Governor of the Riyadh Region, Prince Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz, has visited a Saudi Aramco administrative building in Riyadh to assess the damage caused by a Houthi attack on civilian facilities, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The building, used for civilian purposes, sustained minor damage.
Prince Mohammed said the attack confirmed what Saudi Arabia has long maintained about the Houthis deliberately targeting civilian sites. He commended the work of civilian, military and security personnel in responding to the incident.
Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous day.
Brent crude futures fell 24 cents, or 0.23 percent, to US$92.33 a barrel by 01:02 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures fell 35 cents, or 0.40 percent, to US$86.50 a barrel.
Brent settled down 5.85 percent in the previous session after sliding to its lowest since 31st August.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday there was momentum toward ending the war with Iran, as he declared that the country "militarily, is effectively over," but kept open the possibility of new strikes.
Trump met at the White House with Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani -- a key mediator in the Iran war. It was his first meeting with a foreign leader since his party's massive losses in the midterm elections.
Trump later posted on Truth Social that the two leaders had "an excellent conversation" and that "much was discussed with respect to the Islamic Republic of Iran."
The Saudi-led coalition said a drone was intercepted and destroyed in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province on Tuesday, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The Saudi-led coalition said its air defences intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile and a cruise missile launched by the Houthis towards Riyadh on Tuesday, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
Marine traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains "well below normal but not stalled". UKMTO’s latest weekly report counted 170 outbound and 155 inbound transits, about 65% below pre-conflict levels, with most transponder-on vessels using the Iranian route to the north.
JMIC said independent tracking showed single-digit to low double-digit daily transits, while US naval shipping-coordination data recorded about 30 US-facilitated transits a day from Nov. 5 to 7. UKMTO cautions that it cannot independently verify all US-reported movements.
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President Donald Trump said late on Monday (Nov. 9) that further military action against Iran may not be needed, but that the US stands ready if circumstances change. He called the US ongoing military "engagement" against Iran's regime as the "greatest naval blockade in the history of our country, probably in the history of the world...nothing has gotten through, having a very devastating effect on Iran." He spoke after an “excellent conversation” with Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani. “Much was discussed with respect to the Islamic Republic of Iran... At this point, taking the military action doesn’t seem to be a very necessary thing — but we’re locked and loaded ready to go for any reason,” Trump said.
A Republican lawmaker moved Monday to impeach US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the war in Iran, setting up a potentially explosive vote in Congress days after President Donald Trump's party suffered a crushing midterm defeat. Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment accusing Hegseth of illegally waging war without congressional authorization and abusing his powers as Pentagon chief.
The death toll from Saturday's airstrikes that hit homes near Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, has increased to 44, most of them women and children, Houthi health authorities said late Sunday.
The strikes on the village of al-Shariya, east of Sanaa, wounded 40 others, including eight children and nine women, said Anees al-Asbahi, spokesperson for the Houthi-run Health Ministry. The dead included 21 children and 10 women, he said, making the strikes one of the deadliest attacks in the latest bout of violence in Yemen’s yearlong civil war.
Schools in the Saudi capital Riyadh will return to online classes, a message to parents seen by AFP said on Monday, as Yemen's Houthis step up attacks on the kingdom.
"As part of the ongoing precautionary measures, we would like to confirm that classes will be online beginning tomorrow, Tuesday," the message reads, without specifying how long the measure is expected to last.
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