Iran's military has threatened to launch sustained attacks on U.S. bases and interests across the Middle East if Washington resumes military action against Tehran.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he had agreed to a Saudi request for defensive air-to-air refuelling support for a limited period, with Britain set to deploy one Voyager aircraft in the coming days.
Riyadh requested support after the Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen, intensified their attacks on Saudi Arabia, a new front in the wider war that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has arrived in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, according to Iranian media.
The United Nations on Monday voiced renewed concern over Houthi attacks launched from Yemen into Saudi Arabia, including attempted strikes targeting Riyadh.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters that the organisation was “deeply concerned about the ongoing military escalation in and around Yemen”, including Houthi operations in Taiz, Lahij and Marib.
He said the cross-border attacks had affected civilian areas and critical energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, urging all sides to “exercise restraint and prevent any further escalation”.
The attacks have also caused civilian casualties in southern Saudi Arabia, while renewed fighting in Yemen has disrupted shipping and driven further displacement.
Members of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s media team have been refused U.S. visas to attend UN General Assembly meetings in New York, despite follow-up requests, Iranian presidential office public relations chief Habib Abbasi said, according to Tasnim.
Abbasi said the refusal was “an attempt to prevent the Iranian president’s voice and Iran’s narrative from reaching the world”.
Nearly 130,000 people have been displaced in Yemen in recent weeks as fighting intensifies along the country’s west coast, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Ta’iz and Lahj are hosting the largest numbers, while more than 3,100 people have crossed the Red Sea to Djibouti since the latest escalation.
The surge comes after more than a decade of conflict and worsening economic hardship, putting further pressure on displaced families and already overstretched host communities.
Germany is set to approve a new cut in petrol and diesel taxes on Monday, with the discount due to take effect from 1 October, the finance ministry said.
The draft legislation was completed over the weekend and is expected to clear both houses of parliament later this week. The measure would reduce fuel taxes by €0.17 ($0.20) per litre, with the government aiming to offset the cost through a tax on excess energy-sector profits.
The planned relief comes as oil prices have surged above $100 a barrel amid disruptions to energy supplies linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
The package is expected to cost the federal and state governments about €2.5 billion. It follows an earlier fuel discount introduced in May and June, which cost €1.6 billion.
The government is under growing pressure to ease the impact of higher energy costs on households and businesses.
The issue has also exposed tensions within Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition, with Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil backing a windfall tax on energy companies while Merz and Economy Minister Katherina Reiche have opposed the measure.
U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi on Sunday, with the two discussing recent Houthi advances around the Bab al-Mandeb strait, according to four people familiar with the conversation.
Alimi asked for U.S. backing for his Saudi-supported government as it faces the Iran-aligned Houthis, who have seized strategic positions near the vital shipping route in a rapid offensive this month.
Two sources, including a Yemeni and a Western official, said Trump did not make a direct commitment to provide military support during the call.
The White House and Yemen’s information minister did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that all Iranian airlines would face a shutdown from 23 September under U.S. secondary sanctions targeting companies providing them with aviation services.
Speaking to CNBC after talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, Bessent said Chinese officials had been closely involved in discussions over the U.S. economic pressure campaign against Iran.
“If you provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system,” Bessent said, referring to Iranian airlines operating abroad.
He added that Washington was holding “positive” discussions with Chinese financial authorities, including People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng, over compliance with U.S. sanctions on Iran.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that he could not predict how long the conflict with Iran would continue.
Asked by CNBC about the duration of the war, Bessent said: “I can't tell you how long the conflict will last.”
His comments come as markets continue to monitor the economic fallout from the conflict, including its potential impact on energy prices, trade and financial markets.
Emaar expects occupancy at its Dubai hotels to recover towards normal levels over the next year after the Iran war sharply hit tourism, chairman Mohamed Alabbar told Reuters on Monday.
Hotel occupancy, which stood at about 83 per cent before the conflict, fell to as low as 20 per cent-25 per cent before recovering to around 60 per cent.
“We're very happy with 60 per cent occupancy. At least our hotels are operating,” Alabbar said.
He said improving international flight connections were helping demand recover, although the disruption had been significant for Dubai after years of rapid tourism growth.
“This change is quite drastic,” Alabbar said.
Tourism Economics forecasts international travel to the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia will decline 14 per cent this year, with Gulf travel expected to fall by more than 30 per cent.
Alabbar said he expected occupancy to “crawl back to normality” over the next 12 months.
A tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile while entering the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), with two crew members suffering minor injuries.
UKMTO said the incident involved a vessel making an inbound passage through the strategically important waterway.
“Military authorities have informed UKMTO that a tanker conducting an inbound transit was struck by an unknown projectile,” it said.
The tanker remained capable of sailing and continued towards its next port of call under its own power, UKMTO said. The two injured crew members were reported to have sustained minor injuries.
An investigation into the incident is under way.
UKMTO has not identified the tanker or provided information about the source of the projectile. Further details were not immediately available.
Pakistan's Interior Minister, Mohsin Naqvi, will visit Iran on Monday, Iranian state news agency IRNA has reported. Pakistan is a key diplomatic mediator between the U.S. and Iran.
Naqvi is due to hold talks with the Iranian leadership on the evolving regional situation, Pakistani government sources said.
Matters on the agenda include attacks by Yemeni Houthi group on Saudi Arabia's oil and economic infrastructure, and efforts to revive stalled peace talks with the U.S., the sources added.
Naqvi has been actively involved in the mediation process alongside Pakistan's army chief Field Marshall Asim Munir.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will fly to New York for the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, the Director General of Public Relations at the President's Office, Habibollah Abbasi, told the IRNA news agency on Monday.
A dozen cargo ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, down from 35 the prior weekend, shipping data from analytics firm Kpler showed on Monday.
Prior to the Iran war, one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passed through the waterway. Since the Middle East conflict began, data indicates this has reduced to a trickle. However, Middle Eastern producers continue to export oil on tankers with their transponders off.
Before the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran started on 28 February, the strait typically handled about 125 large, commercial vessels per day, including tankers, gas carriers, bulkers and container vessels.
Iran's military has warned the U.S. that the resumption of attacks will trigger sustained retaliatory strikes on American bases and interests in the Middle East in a statement late on Sunday.
Tehran's central military command said it received information that the U.S. with the backing of some regional countries was preparing to recommence actions against Iran.
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The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said late Monday that it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi group toward Khamis Mushait in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
A building at Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in the eastern city of Dhahran was attacked late Tuesday, causing a limited fire, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said on Wednesday. The incident came as fighting between the kingdom and Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthi group intensify.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia hit at least six energy targets in deadly strikes across Ukraine, showing Moscow is unwilling to accept the energy ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Kremlin on Monday rejected a 60-day ceasefire idea proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to allow his country to hold presidential elections, saying it wanted an overall peace deal instead.
Thousands of young Georgians leave the country each year in search of better economic opportunities, with many moving west. As questions grow over Georgia’s European path, AnewZ spoke to people who have emigrated about what it would take for them to return.
The leader of Yemen's Saudi-backed government announced the beginning of a major military operation against the Iran-backed Houthis on Sunday, aimed at seizing the territory under their control.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States meets seven conditions agreed under a June memorandum, as President Donald Trump signals he may soon decide whether to resume military operations against Tehran.
Governments from the Persian Gulf to the Horn of Africa are hedging against a conflict they cannot control, with contingency plans beginning to reshape trade routes, alliances and the regional map.
A supertanker which was cruising through the Strait of Hormuz was targetted by an unknown projectile off the coast of Oman, according to an Iranian news agency which said the vessel was “violating” navigation rules at the Strait of Hormuz on 1 October.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has accused the U.S. and Israel of seeking to foment internal divisions in Iran after failing to defeat the country militarily, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported.
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