Despite signs of movement in negotiations with Washington, Tehran is showing little inclination to ease military pressure, pursuing diplomacy while signaling that renewed US attacks could trigger a broader regional response.
The International Monetary Fund forecast Tuesday that Iran’s economy would shrink 7.6% in 2026, a worse outlook than for its main Middle Eastern rivals amid the war, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE facing smaller contractions and Israel and Turkey expected to grow.
The deadly attacks on Riyadh’s main airport mirror Iranian warnings to disrupt regional air travel in response to US sanctions, analysts say, while serving the Houthis’ own goal of pressuring Saudi Arabia over its support for rival forces in Yemen.
The Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday that five members of an alleged kidnapping cell and one of its personnel were killed near Zahedan, while separate reports said more than 20 members of an Iran-backed militia were killed or wounded in the area.
The Islamic Republic’s threats to target undersea internet cables in the Persian Gulf drew mockery and criticism from readers who told Iran International that such attacks could deepen Iran’s isolation and damage its own connectivity.
Twelve attacks on commercial vessels were reported in and around the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf between October 5 and 11, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) warnings.
Washington could support the Saudi campaign against the Houthis at little direct cost by lifting political objections to its operations, but deeper military involvement risks appearing to widen the Iran war, senior Middle East analyst Ryan Bohl told Iran International.
Iranian hardliners have backed security chief Mohsen Rezaei’s threat to strike data centers, undersea internet cables and artificial intelligence facilities in the Persian Gulf if the United States and Israel resume hostilities.
Two commercial vessels were attacked near Oman on Sunday, two Indian sailors were left missing, and a drone struck an Iranian Kurdish opposition camp in Iraq on Monday, as Iranian officials warned that a renewed war could put regional infrastructure at risk.
Efforts to end the war with Iran and restore normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remained deadlocked Sunday, as military pressure continued at sea and the Iran-backed Houthis carried out increasingly deadly attacks inside Saudi Arabia.
An attack by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport drew condemnation from European leaders, the United Nations and regional governments on Sunday.
The US blockade and tighter sanctions enforcement are cutting into Iran’s oil income and targeting financial networks that sustain the Islamic Republic, but may still fall short of forcing Tehran into concessions, experts said at an Iran International town hall in Washington.
A deadly Houthi attack on Riyadh’s main airport drew a Saudi vow of retaliation on Saturday, as President Donald Trump raised the possibility of joining strikes on the group and resuming attacks on Iran.
Moscow would rather live with an Iranian nuclear weapon than with a change of regime in Tehran, senior Russia scholar Mark Katz told Iran International, arguing that a pro-Western Iran is the outcome Russia actually fears.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week outlined an expanding campaign of what he called “absolute isolation” against Iran, targeting its oil revenue, overseas financial access and transport routes as Washington seeks to strangle Tehran’s economy.
President Donald Trump’s pledge not to attack Iran before the November 3 US midterm elections has been greeted in Tehran as either a bluff or an opportunity, with some hardliners urging Iran to exploit the three-week window to strike first.
Iran has sharpened its criticism of a Saudi Arabia-Pakistan-Turkey defense pact after it became operational, warning against intervention in Yemen and questioning Pakistan’s role as a mediator between Tehran and Washington.
At least five Iranian military and police personnel were killed and several others wounded in four armed attacks across southeastern Iran within 24 hours, local rights group Haalvsh reported, as violence targeting security forces continued across the area.
Iraq has created a specialized unit within the Popular Mobilization Forces to take control of drones held by armed factions as part of Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi’s plan to bring weapons under state authority, Erem News reported on Friday, citing an Iraqi security source.
US President Donald Trump said Thursday the United States would not attack Iran before the November 3 midterm elections and that "productive" talks were underway, after reports of US preparations for possible large-scale strikes.
An Iranian police officer was killed on Thursday when gunmen attacked a patrol near Zahedan in Sistan-Baluchestan, the latest in a series of deadly attacks and clashes involving security forces in southeastern Iran.
Oil tanker captains are being paid as much as $100,000 a month and offered $50,000 bonuses for individual trips through the Strait of Hormuz, the latest sign of the extraordinary costs now required to keep crude moving through the waterway since the Iran war began.