Reported attacks on ships around Strait of Hormuz reach record highs

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps on Saturday said an oil tanker was on fire in the Strait of Hormuz after hitting a mine in the waterway at the heart of the Middle East war.

“A supertanker in violation of regulations, carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil and attempting to pass illegally through the Strait of Hormuz, struck a mine, triggering an explosion and a fierce fire,” the Iranian military said.

The statement did not specify the exact location of the incident.

“The tanker attempted to cross the strait with U.S. support… by deactivating all its tracking systems,” the Guards added, also posting a video of a vessel in flames during the night.

The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) monitoring agency reported on Saturday a second attack on a ship off the coast of Saudi Arabia, which took place a day early.

In a post on social media, the UKMTO said: “The master of a tanker has reported being attacked by an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) from a small boat, resulting in damage to the aft port quarter.”

Friday’s attack is the second reported by the agency on that day off the coast of Al Jubayl in Saudi Arabia.

“Crew are accounted for and reported safe,” the UKMTO said, but the full extent of the damage and environmental impact were not known at the time of the report.

A British maritime agency said Saturday it had received a report of a vessel struck on the Persian Gulf on Friday.

The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the tanker had been struck by an “unknown projectile” off the coast of Saudi Arabia.

“All crew are reported safe and have been evacuated. There is no reported environmental impact at the time of report,” the statement added.

The UKMTO had previously reported that October had become the busiest month for reported attacks on ships in the Strait Hormuz.

A British monitor says October has become the busiest month for reported attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz since March, during the Iran war’s opening months.

That’s as the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it was “struggling to accurately report” the true number of attacks since most ships now refuse to report them.

Still, UKMTO said 10 attacks were reported in the week ending Friday. One ship sank. Since early July, most attacks have occurred off Oman, where the U.S. military has been guiding vessels at risk of Iranian attack.

There has been an uptick in attacks since President Trump late last month rejected a Tehran proposal to end the war and open the strait, though indirect negotiations have continued.

Two missiles struck the airport in Yemen’s port city of Aden on Friday night, police said, blaming Iran-backed Houthi rebels for the second such attack in less than a week.

Police said no casualties were reported as fighting escalates in the latest front in the Iran war, one in which the rebels have attacked both neighboring Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognized government that’s backed by the kingdom. 

A security official and a traffic controller told The Associated Press an area of the Aden airport that hosts a military unit aligned with the Saudi-backed government was hit. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Iran’s foreign ministry on Friday rejected Saudi Arabia’s accusation that Tehran was involved in Houthi attacks on the kingdom, offering to mediate between the two sides.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran rejects any claim that Iran has played a role in Yemeni (Houthi) operations,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement, reiterating Tehran’s offer to act as a bridge between the Houthis and Riyadh.

Regardless of how involved Iran has been in Houthi attacks, the two groups have long held close ties. 

They were once a relatively marginal group within what Iran calls its Axis of Resistance — a loose alliance of anti-Israel, anti-U.S. militant groups that includes Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“The Houthis are the most powerful proxy within the Iranian network, hands down,” said Mohammed Al-Basha, founder of the Basha Report, a U.S.-based risk advisory group. “Any U.S. military strategy planning a campaign on Iran will have to take into consideration what the Houthis will do next.”

Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have killed about 20 people in the last several weeks, including 13 in one strike on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport last weekend.

CBS/AFP

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian denied Friday that Tehran sought nuclear weapons, expressed readiness for dialogue and condemned U.S. sanctions during talks with Georgia’s prime minister.

In his meeting with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, Pezeshkian also called for closer ties with Georgia, weeks after Tbilisi cut aviation links between the two countries following U.S. sanctions targeting Iranian airlines.

The two met on the sidelines of a U.N. biodiversity summit in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan.

“Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons, and we consider the malicious propaganda against our country to be lies,” Pezeshkian said, according to a statement from his office.

“We have always been ready for dialogue. They think they can force us to surrender, but we will not bow to coercion,” he added, calling U.S. sanctions against Tehran “unjustifiable and inhumane.”

Georgia’s Civil Aviation Agency said in September it would comply with U.S. sanctions, while Kobakhidze insisted Tbilisi was not imposing its own bilateral sanctions on Tehran.

Asian Cup organizers insisted Friday the continental soccer championship set to be held in Saudi Arabia in early 2027 remains on track despite a wave of missile and drone attacks on the host country in recent days.

The Saudi organizing committee issued a statement Friday saying it is continuing to coordinate closely with the Asian Football Confederation. The tournament is scheduled for Jan. 7 to Feb. 5.

“Preparations across all organizational and operational areas are progressing according to the approved schedule, including work on venues, facilities and supporting services,” Saudi organizers said. “The focus remains on delivering a world-class tournament experience for participating teams, fans and media from across Asia, while bringing the continent together through football.”

South Korea’s Professional Footballers’ Association had earlier expressed concerns following a series of attacks on the Asian Cup host country by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

“The continued military tensions and security instability in the Middle East are issues that can never be taken lightly,” Lee Keun-ho, head of the South Korean player union, said in a statement. “The safety of our national team, as well as all players participating in the Asian Cup, is a serious concern.”

At least 19 people, including foreigners, have been killed in more than a week of Houthi attacks targeting the Riyadh international airport, the headquarters of Saudi oil giant Aramco and other aviation, oil and military facilities across the kingdom.

Several sporting events have already been canceled or postponed in Saudi Arabia, including Netflix’s Six Kings Slam tennis tournament; women’s tennis’ WTA Finals, which were moved to the U.S.; multiple matches for the Saudi soccer club Al-Nassr, which features Cristiano Ronaldo; and an Olympic qualifying event for BMX cycling.

AP/CBS

Attacks on the palace compound of Yemen’s internationally recognized government Thursday killed at least five people and wounded more than a dozen others, government officials said.

In a Facebook post late Thursday, Health Minister Qasem Buhaibeh said security guards and other employees at Maashiq palace in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden were among the casualties.

Aden has been the seat of Yemen’s government since 2015. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they targeted a military operations headquarters associated with Saudi forces backing the government.

Two of the missiles launched by the Houthis on Thursday struck near the headquarters of the Saudi-backed coalition forces in Aden, causing damage, a Yemeni government official said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media, said Friday the missiles landed near the compound used by the coalition in Buraiqah, a neighborhood west of the palace. No senior officials were there at the time of the attack, he said.

Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki announced a series of interceptions in successive X posts on Friday, saying Saudi forces had destroyed a ballistic missile, two cruise missiles and three drones over Saudi Arabia or the Red Sea.

In a first tweet, Al-Maliki said coalition forces intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched toward Yanbu.

A second post announced the interception and destruction of two cruise missiles over the Red Sea.

He then reported three drones had been intercepted and destroyed in Saudi Arabia’s southern region and the Riyadh region.

Iraq has lost around $60 billion during the U.S.-Iran war, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said Thursday, as the fighting has blocked or severely impeded a waterway crucial to its oil exports.

OPEC member Iraq was producing about 4 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) before the conflict, and exporting about 3.5 million bpd – mostly carried by tankers out of the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s ongoing threat to vessels that fail to seek its permission to transit the strait has forced Iraq, which lacks sufficient storage capacity, to halt most production and fall back on limited exports via Syria and Turkey, by truck and pipeline respectively. Syria is set to provide an overland oil route to bypass the strait, the head of Syrian Petroleum Co. said last week.

“Iraq has suffered losses estimated at around $60 billion during the recent war between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Hussein told his Italian counterpart in Rome, according to a statement from the Iraqi foreign ministry.

After a heavy drop in production, Iraqi oil exports, which provide about 90% of the country’s revenues, recovered modestly last month, reaching 2.6 million barrels per day between Sept. 1 and 21, according to the oil ministry. But at the same time, Iraq’s foreign currency reserves have shrunk by $20 billion and consumer prices have risen sharply, plunging it into economic crisis.

CBS/AFP

A Norwegian teenager convicted of traveling to Britain to carry out a contract killing on behalf of an international crime gang linked to Iran was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.

Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, was found guilty in July of conspiracy to murder for agreeing to shoot someone unknown to him for $28,000 last year. He was arrested at a hotel in Huddersfield, in northern England, with two guns and ammunition two days after arriving in the U.K.

In bodycam video released by police from the early hours of March 19, 2025, Natland emerges topless from his room and mimes a shooting gesture at a firearms officer before being slammed against a wall.

It remains unknown who his intended target would have been.

Natland, who was working part time at a pizza restaurant at the time of his arrest, was recruited by a Swedish organized crime group known as the Foxtrot Network while he was playing a game online. The group has links to the Iranian government, according to London’s counterterrorism police unit.

Natland was hired by a 17-year-old known as “Generalen.” A court in Norway last year convicted the teenager of attempting to “contribute to murder” and sentenced him to 14 years in custody. A 16-year-old is awaiting trial in Norway for his role in the conspiracy.

CBS/AP

The Iranian navy said Friday that it had identified a tanker on fire in what it called a prohibited area in the Gulf of Oman, east of the Strait of Hormuz.

The navy’s public relations office said in a statement that military surveillance teams “discovered and identified a violating oil tanker that had caught fire in a prohibited area.”

The vessel had “switched off its tracking systems and was attempting to pass through a prohibited area in the Gulf of Oman.”

The navy did not say how the tanker “caught fire” but added that “the consequences of uncoordinated movements along routes and in prohibited areas are the creation of insecurity and serious hazards for other vessels.”

At least three commercial vessels have been struck in the region in suspected Iranian attacks this week.

The Strait of Hormuz will reopen if the U.S. “leaves” the Middle East, an Iranian army official said Friday.

“If the United States leaves the region, the Strait of Hormuz will reopen and collective security will be established with the participation of the countries of the region, and the global economy will improve,” army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia wrote on X. “If it does not leave, we will expel it.”

He did not elaborate on whether he was calling for a withdrawal of military forces sent during the current war, all U.S. military forces across the region, or military and non-military U.S. government personnel.

Though there were credible reports earlier this month of oil exports from the Persian Gulf ramping back up to near pre-war levels, Iran and the U.S. continue offering conflicting narratives, with the Trump administration insisting the Strait of Hormuz is open, but Tehran claiming it is closed to all traffic unless Iranian authorities grant permission. 

Greek maritime risk firm Marisks warned Thursday that ships continue to face “indiscriminate attacks,” even if they turn off their tracking systems, which many ships have been doing to avoid detection.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday urged countries to condemn what he called “ecocide” in the Middle East caused by “wars of aggression” against his country.

Pezeshkian said the conflicts in Gaza and the wider Middle East had taken a significant toll on nature that extended beyond national borders and required “international solutions.”

“What has occurred in our region as a result of wars of aggression is ecocide, or environmental genocide, and it must be condemned,” Pezeshkian said at a nature summit in Armenia that was attended by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Pezeshkian decried an “atmosphere of distrust” between Iran and the U.S. in a recent interview with CBS News. 

“As long as they don’t cease doing what they’re imposing on us every day, it’s difficult to trust them,” he said. “Every day, they increase the sanctions against us. Every day, they threaten us. Every day, they strike us, and they don’t honor what they have put in writing. So, if they engage in talks, will they actually follow through?”

CBS/AFP

The White House and Pentagon have prepared plans to use a Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb to hit military sites in Iran if ordered by President Trump, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

A Pentagon official told CBS News: “The Department of War plans for a wide range of operational scenarios to execute Presidential and Secretary level direction and to ensure mission success in any operational environment.”

A White House spokesperson said: “We do not comment on sensitive military plans that may or may not exist. President Trump keeps all options on the table to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”

Last week, Mr. Trump said the U.S. would not attack Iran before the midterm elections. He also touted “productive conversations” with Iran, though he did not provide specifics.

CNN first reported Thursday on the plans to use the Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, or MOAB, on Iran.

Mr. Trump set a precedent for using the MOAB, also known as the “mother of all bombs,” when it was used in 2017 to attack an Islamic State cave complex in Afghanistan. The bomb is the largest U.S. non-nuclear weapon, weighing upwards of 30,000 pounds at a cost of $170,000 per unit.

Read more here.