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Saudi civil defence says 2 wounded by Houthi projectile
Saudi authorities said a Houthi projectile wounded two people in an area along the country's southern border with Yemen, hours after the government issued alerts warning of the risk of possible attacks.
The civil defence directorate said its "teams in Al-Tuwal Governorate, Jazan Region, responded to an incident involving a projectile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia, resulting in two injuries and material damage to a mosque, several buildings, and vehicles".
Explosions heard off coast of Qeshm in southern Iran: state media
Iranian state media on Saturday said explosions were heard off the coast of an island located in the Strait of Hormuz.
"A few minutes ago, the sound of two explosions was heard on Qeshm Island, coming from the direction of the sea," the official IRNA news agency said.
In recent weeks, Iran has been targeting oil tankers passing through the strategic waterway as well as US bases in the Gulf countries in retaliation for the attacks carried out by the US military on Iranian targets.
The United States has also targeted ships trying to break its own counterblockade of Iranian ports.
At least 76,000 flee fighting in Yemen since July, says UN
At least 76,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since July, with the number quadrupling in the past week as fighting flared between government forces and Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the United Nations said Saturday.
"The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is warning of a rapidly worsening displacement crisis in Yemen unfolding by the hour," the UN agency said in a statement, pointing out that "at least 76,000 people have fled their homes since July... four times last week's total, as fighting intensifies".
Iraq finds drone launchers near Iran border: security sources
Iraqi security forces have found drone launchers near the border with Iran, security sources told AFP on Saturday, after an attack on a Saudi pipeline that Riyadh and Baghdad said was launched from Iraq.
A security official said that "security forces found drone launchers near the Iraq-Iran border in the al-Tib" remote region in the southern Missan province. A second security official gave the same account.
Iran got Chinese satellite images before deadly strike on US troops: report
Chinese entities supplied Iran with satellite images of a base in Jordan before and after an attack that killed three US soldiers, The Wall Street Journal reported – an incident that could deepen tensions between Washington and Beijing.
On July 17, Iran launched missile strikes on the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, which houses US forces. Three US Army soldiers were killed.
The unnamed US officials quoted by The Wall Street Journal did not name the Chinese entities involved, and did not suggest that Beijing was directly to blame.
But US officials have raised the matter with their Chinese counterparts, and it could come up again when US President Donald Trump welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House on September 24.
Chinese officials asked for proof of the transfer of satellite imagery when prodded by the US officials, and refused to acknowledge that Chinese companies were involved in providing Tehran with satellite images, the Journal reported late Friday.
Trump has warned Beijing not to sell weapons to Iran, and in May, Washington sanctioned three China-based satellite firms for enabling Iran's military operations.
China is a top economic partner of Iran, buying much of its oil output, and also an important diplomatic backer.
Iraq agrees to Iran request for joint investigation into drone launch sites
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi has agreed to an Iranian request for a joint investigation into the discovery of drone launch platforms near the Iraqi-Iranian border, the prime minister's office said on Saturday.
The investigation will examine the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the platforms near the border area, the statement said, after it was used to launch attacks on the Saudi Arabia East-West pipeline.
Russia concerned by 'uncontrolled' situation in Bab el-Mandeb
The situation in the Bab el-Mandeb strait is developing in an uncontrolled manner, prompting concern in Moscow, Interfax reported on Saturday, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis reached the strategic island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Friday, four Yemeni government sources told Reuters, moving to tighten their grip on a vital global shipping route in the widening Middle East war.
Bahrain rules out Iran meeting on Hormuz until diplomatic relations restored
Bahrain said it will not attend any meeting with Iran to discuss the Strait of Hormuz until diplomatic ties between the two countries are restored, according to state media.
Iran president and UAE crown prince meet in New Delhi: Iranian embassy
Iran's president and the United Arab Emirates crown prince met in New Delhi on Saturday, the Iranian embassy in India said, as the countries remain at odds over the Middle East war.
The embassy said that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian "held a meeting and talks" with the senior UAE official on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, posting a photograph of the meeting with Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed on social media.
BRICS nations call for 'maximum restraint' in Middle East
Members of the 11-nation BRICS group including China, Russia, Iran and India called for calm in the Middle East, in a joint statement issued Saturday at a summit meeting.
"We express deep concern over the continued escalation of tensions in Middle East/West Asia and, recalling our respective national positions, call for exercising maximum restraint, as well as avoiding actions that could further aggravate the situation," the statement issued in the Indian capital New Delhi read.
Houthis seize key sites around Bab el-Mandeb as Saudi oil exports face disruption
Saudi Arabia has stopped transferring oil through a major pipeline after it was attacked by drones. Meanwhile, Houthi forces have taken control of a strategic port and island in Bab el-Mandeb from Yemeni government forces. Iran, which backs the rebels, says it had nothing to do with the attacks.
Iraq races to contain fallout after local Iran-backed militias accused of attacking Saudi pipeline
Iraq’s government was racing to contain the fallout after local Iran-backed militias were accused of attacking and shuttering a key Saudi pipeline.
Though an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias in Iraq denied their involvement, Iraq's government confirmed the attacks had originated from its territory. The government pledged to investigate and dismissed two senior officials.
The country is under mounting pressure to prevent local militias from aiding other Iran proxy groups across the region. The Iraqi government has set a September 30 deadline for non-state groups to disarm, but several of the most powerful militias have said they will not comply.
Iran's Pezeshkian meets Abu Dhabi Crown Prince on BRICS sidelines in India
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in New Delhi, on the sidelines of the BRICS leaders' summit, Iran's embassy in India said in a post on X.
Trump says Yemen's Houthis have asked US not to intervene
Trump said that Yemen's Iran-allied Houthi fighters, who have seized a vital shipping corridor linking Europe and Asia, have asked Washington not to intervene.
The Houthis have taken control of Yemen's entire Red Sea coast after capturing three strategic islands in a lightning offensive.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has relied on the area ever since Iran's Hormuz blockade choked off its shipments via the Gulf.
"The Houthis called us and they don't want to fight with us," Trump told reporters on a visit to Dublin, Ireland.
Trump claims Yemen's Houthis asked US not to intervene
US President Donald Trump has said Yemen's Iran-allied Houthi fighters asked Washington not to intervene as they seized control of a vital shipping corridor linking Europe and Asia.
The Houthis have taken control of Yemen's entire Red Sea coast after capturing three strategic islands in a lightning offensive.
Their advance is a major blow to Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, which has relied on the area ever since Iran's Hormuz blockade choked off its shipments via the Gulf.
"The Houthis called us and they don't want to fight with us," Trump told reporters in Dublin as he met with Irish PM Michael Martin.
"They don't want us to go after them," he said, adding that "everything's gonna work out fine and dandy" in the region.
Trump meets with Ireland's Michael Martin in Dublin on September 12, 2026. Photo: Kylie Cooper, Reuters
Trump says Iran war will end after US midterm elections
President Donald Trump repeated that he believed the war with Iran will end after US midterm elections in November and that oil prices will tumble once it does.
"I think very soon. I think it'll be probably right after the mid-terms. They're trying to hold out as long as they can to complicate the election. But I think people are wise to it," Trump told reporters in Dublin.
"When that happens, oil prices will come tumbling down."
Iran president says Middle East has no need for US 'policeman'
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said that the Middle East does not need the United States to be a "regional policeman", with the two countries at war and vying for control of the Strait of Hormuz.
"We do not need a regional policeman: the territorial integrity and security of the region can only be guaranteed by its main players and the countries that comprise it," he said on the sidelines of a Brics summit in India during a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
"The territorial integrity and security of the region can only be guaranteed by its main players and the countries that comprise it," he added, according to the Iranian presidency.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hand with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during their meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India, September 11, 2026. © Indian Foreign Ministry via AP
Trump says Strait of Hormuz, Saudi concerns will 'work out just fine'
US President Donald Trump said that everything would "work out just fine" when asked whether he could help move traffic through the Strait of Hormuz in light of fresh concerns about Saudi Arabia.
"Everything will work out just fine," Trump said, speaking in Dublin after meeting Irish President Catherine Connolly.
US President Donald Trump gestures as he leaves Aras an Uachtarain after meeting the Irish president in Phoenix Park in the Irish capital Dublin on September 12, 2026. © Adrian Dennis, AFP
Lebanon's president visits south after Israel blows up strategic Hezbollah site
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun visited the country's south on Saturday, in a surprise trip to a city close to a strategic Hezbollah position recently captured and blown up by Israel.
Official Lebanese media said he arrived in the city of Nabatieh unannounced and accompanied by security officials.
His visit comes a day after a senior US diplomatic official said a new round of US-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon, initially scheduled for next week, had been pushed back to October.
Aoun expressed solidarity with locals in Nabatieh who greeted him on Saturday, according to footage broadcast by Lebanese media.
US limits air defence time slots for tankers sailing through Hormuz, FT reports
The US has asked tankers travelling through the Strait of Hormuz to sail only at specific times to guarantee military protection after Iran stepped up attacks on ships travelling at night, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
Washington has been offering air-based defence since May to ships wanting to sail via a route hugging the Omani coast on the strait's southern side.
That period during which ships would be protected was cut down to two specific time slots daily around the start of September, the FT reported, citing emails sent by the US naval co-ordination centre to maritime advisers.
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Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels seized control of the country's entire Red Sea coast
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Saudi authorities shut the East-West oil pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina areas after it came under attack
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Iran's president said pressure on the country was at a critical, dangerous stage
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Trump declined Saudi crown prince's call for US strikes on Houthis.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)
