The United States is targeting people and companies around the globe that it accuses of financing or enabling Iran’s military supply chain, placing sanctions on 10 individuals and entities as it pushes forward with economic warfare against Tehran.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard urged Americans in a message ahead of U.S. midterm elections to take to the streets and rally against Donald Trump, claiming the U.S. president’s war in the Middle East has failed.
Pakistan vowed to defend Saudi Arabia against Iran-backed Houthis by “whatever means,” and in the occupied West Bank, settlers rioted to prevent a Palestinian man escorted by the Israeli military from returning to his home.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Tuesday. Full coverage is available here.
US targets Iran’s military supply chain with new sanctions
The United States is targeting people and companies around the globe that it accuses of being financial facilitators or enablers of Iran’s military supply chain.
The Trump administration is pushing forward with economic warfare against Tehran at a time when renewed diplomacy between the two countries remains uncertain.
The Treasury Department action Tuesday is part of the administration’s “Operation Economic Outcast” campaign, aimed at severing “critical financial lifelines” for the already heavily sanctioned Iranian government.
Ten individuals and entities based in Iran, Hong Kong and Pakistan now face sanctions over accusations of procuring weapons and weapon components for Iran as it fights its now seven-month war against the U.S.
By Farnoush Amiri
An Iranian spokesman advises Americans to reconsider their leaders
Gen. Hossein Mohebbi, spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, said that the only way for the war in Iran to end is for Washington to admit defeat and leave.
He spoke at a news conference Tuesday in Tehran, reading from what he called a “letter to the American people.” The message was apparently meant for the U.S. public just weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections for the U.S. Senate and Congress — a vote in which Trump’s Republican Party faces fierce headwinds as it looks to maintain control of Congress.
Later, in remarks to The Associated Press, Mohebbi urged Americans to reconsider their leadership and take to the streets and protest Trump’s policies to denounce what he called the U.S. government’s warmongering policies.
He accused the United States of using Iran’s nuclear program as a ruse to “plunder Iran’s wealth” and to turn the country “back into a colony.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s currency fell to a new record low Tuesday, with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials to the U.S. dollar. The currency has repeatedly reached new lows since the war began in February.
Major Saudi pipeline is once again operating
A crucial oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia that was shuttered by the kingdom earlier this month after coming under attack is once again operating, a Saudi government official said.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said operations are near pre-attack levels and that the East-West pipeline should be running at full capacity within a few weeks. The kingdom relies on the pipeline to move its crude from oil processing facilities on the Gulf to ports on its western, Red Sea coast.
Saudi Arabia blamed an Iran-backed militia in Iraq for the drone attack that forced the temporary shutdown of the 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) pipeline.
Satellite imagery indicated tankers on Sunday loaded some 12.5 million barrels of oil at the Yanbu export terminal, which is supplied by the East-West Pipeline, and the nearby terminal at Al Muajjiz, the data and analytical firm Kpler said in a report.
Pakistan vows to defend Saudi Arabia against Iran-backed Houthis by ‘whatever means’
Pakistan will use “whatever means are available” to defend Saudi Arabia against Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the country’s defense minister said Tuesday, offering one of Islamabad’s clearest indications yet that it could become directly involved in the widening regional conflict.
Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif declined to say whether Pakistani forces had already participated in airstrikes. He said, however, that Pakistan’s military capabilities would be available to Saudi Arabia under a new mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
“I’m not going into detail, but obviously when I say that we are bound by this arrangement to defend Saudi Arabia, that means whatever means are available at our disposal, they’ll be available to Saudi Arabia also. I think that’s a categoric statement,” Asif told reporters during a visit to Rome when asked whether Pakistan had been involved in airstrikes against Iranian operators in Yemen.
Saudi-backed Yemeni forces hit the Houthi homebase of Saada with intense airstrikes
Airstrikes by Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces on Tuesday pounded Yemen’s northwestern province of Saada. They were the most intense daily attacks on the homebase of Iran-backed Houthi rebels in recent weeks.
Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the government forces had launched a total of 35 airstrikes on Houthi positions in the last 24 hours.
Earlier, Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported that at least 20 airstrikes had targeted different districts in Saada alone.
Settlers block a Palestinian man from returning to his West Bank home
Over a hundred Israeli settlers scuffled with Israeli soldiers who were trying to escort a Palestinian man to his home in the West Bank village of Jalud.
The homeowner, Mahmoud Tubasi, told the AP that the soldiers initially brought him to his home but rioting settlers forced him to leave with his family in a military vehicle. He said he still can’t access the house, which settlers have besieged for two months.
Israel’s military acknowledged that the overnight mission to return the family “was not completed” and said three officers were injured by settlers who threw rocks, blocked roads and set Palestinian property on fire.
Israeli police said they arrested three settlers suspected of participating in the riot, which was condemned by Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Gidon Saar and President Isaac Herzog.
The Israeli military has struggled to quell the latest wave of settler violence. Rights groups have accused the military of colluding with the settlers.
Four killed in separate Israeli airstrikes, Hamas commander dead
Israeli strikes Tuesday in the Gaza Strip killed four people, including a Hamas commander, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.
A strike early Tuesday on an apartment west of Gaza City killed two people and wounded five others, officials at Shifa Hospital said.
Israel said the overnight strike targeted Izz al-Din Bik, a commander in the Hamas militant group. Israel Defense Forces said Bik was involved in plotting attacks and recruiting new members. Hamas released a statement confirming the death of al-Bik, claiming he was one of the main overseers of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel, which killed over 1,200 people.
On Tuesday afternoon, an Israeli airstrike in the Jabaliya refugee camp north of the Gaza Strip killed one and injured several others, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. A separate strike at around the same time east of Gaza City killed another, officials at Shifa Hospital said.
Israel’s military did not immediately respond for comment on the afternoon strikes.
The deaths were the latest since a ceasefire took effect nearly a year ago.
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
By The Associated Press
