What to know about the Iran war:
Iran’s navy claimed Thursday that four oil tankers had struck sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz, accusing them of navigating along an illegal shipping lane promoted by the U.S.Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fired the Pentagon’s top military planner, Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, a Pentagon official told CBS News, after he was accused of leaking classified information related to the Iran war.Vice President JD Vance has sent a letter to Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei seeking to restart peace negotiations, according to multiple reports, but President Trump insists it is a focused outreach intended only to help get medical supplies into Iran.
War’s U.S. death toll rises to 23, Pentagon says
The Pentagon says two more service members have died in the war in Iran, bringing the death toll to 23, The Washington Post reports. Both were noncombat deaths.
The Pentagon added them to its public database of U.S. military deaths in the war.
Both of the service members were airmen who died in nonhostile incidents, the database says. One was from an illness and the other was from unspecified causes and is still being investigated, the Air Force said.
Saudi coalition says it intercepted Houthi drone in Mecca region
The Saudi-led coalition said on Friday it intercepted and destroyed a drone in the Mecca region that had been fired by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.
“A drone launched by the terrorist Houthi militia has been intercepted and destroyed in the Mecca region,” the coalition wrote in a post on X.
Blasts heard in Riyadh as Saudis down 2 ballistic missiles, officials say
Explosions rocked the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh on Thursday hours after the Iran-backed Houthis reported deadly strikes earlier in the day on residential areas of western Yemen that the Houthis said killed at least 12 people.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said on Thursday it had downed two ballistic missiles launched by the group towards Riyadh, soon after Agence France-Presse correspondents heard fresh explosions in the capital.
“Air defenses intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards Riyadh,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said on X.
Earlier, AFP correspondents in Riyadh had heard at least eight explosions as authorities warned the city was “under a hostile aerial threat” in a phone alert.
Saudi civil defense had issued warnings for “potential danger” in Riyadh, Kharj and the southern city of Najran that were lifted shortly afterward.
The Houthis have ramped up attacks on Saudi Arabia, including by launching deadly strikes on the Riyadh airport that forced its shuttering for two weeks as flagship events were canceled, threatening the kingdom’s economic diversification plans.
The Houthis and the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized Yemeni government have exchanged daily attacks since a yearslong truce fell apart over the summer.
Tanker struck by projectile in Strait of Hormuz, U.K. navy says
A tanker was struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz around 7:30 p.m. local time (noon Eastern time), according to the U.K. Marine Trade Operations Centre.
The ship was exiting the strait along the southern route, promoted by the U.S., when it came under fire.
“There are no reported injuries to the crew or environmental impact … at this time,” the UKMTO said.
While it wasn’t clear who fired the projectile, Iran has taken credit for several ships hitting mines in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday and has been targeting ships along the southern route at an increased rate.
Iran has not yet responded to letter from Vance, Iranian media says
Iran has not yet responded to a letter sent by Vice President JD Vance to the secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, according to the semi-official Tasnim News agency, which is closely affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Tasnim said in a Thursday post on its official Telegram social media account that Tehran was not prepared to drop any of its core conditions for a ceasefire, which include lifting the American blockade of Iran’s ports, easing sanctions and giving Iran access to its frozen financial assets held abroad, among other things.
Multiple news outlets have reported that Vance’s letter to Rezaei was an attempt to restart peace negotiations, but President Trump said Wednesday that it was a focused outreach intended only to help get medical supplies into Iran.
Iranian navy says another oil tanker has been struck by a sea mine in the Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s navy said a tanker it described as violating maritime restrictions was damaged and caught fire after striking sea mines east of the Strait of Hormuz, leaving the vessel unable to continue sailing.
In a statement, the navy said the incident occurred before noon on Thursday as the tanker was sailing through an area designated as prohibited and unsafe by Iran
The U.S. has encouraged shippers to use a shipping route in the south of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has insisted vessels can only use northern routes it has authorized.
The navy’s statement warned that the Strait of Hormuz was closed “to violating vessels that, without coordination and relying on the lies of the U.S. president, intend to pass through prohibited and unsafe areas.”
“These uncoordinated transits through high-risk areas have exposed and will continue to expose vessels and their crews to serious dangers,” it added.
Qatar denies interfering in Israeli elections, accuses politicians of disinformation campaign
Qatar has categorically denied allegations of interfering in Israel’s elections or funding efforts to influence their outcome, accusing Israeli politicians and media figures of launching a disinformation campaign to drag the small Persian Gulf state into domestic Israeli political disputes.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid al-Ansari said in a statement that Qatar would not be used as a scapegoat for Israeli politicians’ failures, insisting that Doha had no involvement in Israel’s political competition and would continue its mediation efforts between Iran and the U.S., as well as wider diplomatic engagement and support for the Palestinian people.
His comments come after Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu alleged that Tuesday’s national elections were “stolen by Arab parties” and claimed foreign interference in the vote.
Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service is investigating possible Qatari and Turkish funding used in an effort to influence the election outcome, according to reports by the Jerusalem Post and Israel’s Channel 13.
“These accusations are ridiculous and dangerous in equal measure,” al-Ansari said. “The repeated invocation of Qatar in Israeli electoral rhetoric reveals an excessive obsession with our country among certain Israeli political and media figures.”
Iran’s navy claims 20 successful attacks on U.S. warships, 300 attacks on U.S. interests
Iran’s navy has carried out more than 20 operations against U.S. warships and approximately 300 operations targeting American interests in various locations during the war, Iranian Army Navy Coordinating Deputy Rear Admiral Jalil Moghadam said in an interview published Thursday by the official state-run news agency IRNA.
“If the Iranian Navy has been destroyed, why have these forces not come closer than 500 or 600 kilometers to the Strait of Hormuz, or closer than 300 kilometers to our maritime borders? There is a force standing in their way, and that force must be the Navy,” he said.
Moghadam did not offer any evidence to substantiate his claims.
Iran’s IRGC challenges U.S. to “prove your claim of mine-clearing in the Strait of Hormuz”
IRGC spokesperson Brig. Gen. Abolfazl Mohebi challenged U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) to provide independent evidence for its claims of mine-clearing operations in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Prove your claim of mine-clearing in the Strait of Hormuz with independent evidence, not a statement!” demanded Mohebi in a post on X, adding that “the reality of the Strait of Hormuz is determined in the skies, on land and at sea — not on social media or in America’s media-warfare rooms.”
Earlier Thursday the IRGC said three oil tankers had been disabled after striking mines in the strait, and the U.K. navy’s Maritime Trade Operations center confirmed one vessel in the area was seen on fire.
In late August, President Trump and CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper insisted the primary shipping lanes of the Strait of Hormuz had been demined and were safe for commercial vessels.
In a statement posted online, Cooper said the U.S. military had “meticulously and quietly” cleared mines previously laid by the IRGC.
“Internationally recognized transit routes in the strait are free of Iranian sea mines thanks to the incredible work of the U.S. military,” he said. “Today, international shipping lanes are open, and momentum is building.”
Houthis say Saudi strike killed 12 in residential area in western Yemen
Iran’s Houthi allies said Thursday that a Saudi strike on a residential area in Yemen’s western Taiz province killed 12 people, as the two sides continued to exchange fire in the reignited Yemeni civil war.
“As an initial toll, 12 citizens were killed and three others were critically injured when the Saudi enemy targeted the homes of the families of Ibrahim Saeed Mohammed Ahmed Al-Qouz and Al-Raabi Saeed Mohammed Ahmed Al-Qouz in Al-Barah, Maqbana district,” the Houthi health ministry said in a statement shared by the group’s Saba news agency.
Following an uneasy four-year truce, fighting reignited in Yemen in July, months into the U.S.-Iran conflict that has plunged the wider region into crisis. The Saudis, who back Yemen’s government, have engaged in fighting with the Houthi rebels along the Red Sea coast and in deadly back-and-forth strikes.
Credit: Yahoo News