Dubai, Sep 22: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned that it would “change the geography of the war” if the United States escalates the conflict.
Meanwhile, the British military said an “unknown projectile” struck a tanker as it entered the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, injuring two crew members.
The Israeli military remains on alert as much of the country shuts down for Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Monday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard issues warning if US escalates war
A spokesperson for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Mohebbi, said Monday that “the war is not over” and warned that Iran would change its weapons, military tactics and targets if the conflict with the US escalates.
“We will certainly change the geography of the war,” Mohebbi said in a statement carried by Iranian state media. “We will certainly bring new weapons with new capabilities into the battle.” He said the Guard had prepared for a long-term war.
“Our targets will no longer necessarily be the same as before,” he said, according to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, adding that Iran has targets that have not yet been struck.
UK to offer Saudi Arabia aerial refuelling to counter Houthi attacks
Prime Minister Andy Burnham says Britain has agreed to provide limited military support to Saudi Arabia to repel attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The Houthis and Saudi Arabia have traded strikes as fighting between the rebels and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government has reignited.
Burnham told reporters as he flew to the United Nations General Assembly in New York that he had agreed the Royal Air Force will provide air-to-air refuelling of Saudi planes. The agreement is for a matter of weeks, but Burnham said it will be kept under review.
Projectile strikes tanker passing through Strait of Hormuz, British military says
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said a tanker was struck by an “unknown projectile” as it headed into the Strait of Hormuz. Two crew members sustained minor injuries.
The agency said Monday the vessel is reportedly continuing to its next port of call under its own power. No reports indicated any environmental impact at this time.
Some tankers are again traversing the vital strait, but traffic is well below what it once was.
Houthi leader lashes out at Saudis in televised speech
In Yemen, the leader of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels used the anniversary of his group’s overthrow of the Yemeni government to lash out at Saudi Arabia.
In a pre-recorded speech aired Monday, Abdul Malik al-Houthi said his group’s demands include an end to what he called Saudi “aggression” and the blockade the Saudi-led coalition has imposed on the rebels for about a decade.
“Stop the aggression and end the blockade. Our demands represent the legitimate rights of our people,” he said in the speech aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah channel.
The Houthis descended from their stronghold in northern Yemen, taking over the capital of Sanaa in September 2014 and forcing the country’s government into exile in Saudi Arabia.
The following year, Saudi Arabia led a multi-national coalition that entered the war in an attempt to restore the government. The coalition imposed an air and sea blockade on the Houthi-held areas, as part of its war efforts.
164 killed and almost 130,000 displaced in Yemen
UN agencies reported that hundreds of people have been killed and wounded and over 130,000 displaced by the renewed fighting in Yemen.
The World Health Organisation said Monday in a post on X that 164 people were killed and 516 injured between September 13 and September 18, bringing the toll since August 6 to 674 deaths and 2,998 injuries.
The International Organisation for Migration said the same day that the fighting has so far displaced 129,438 people across seven provinces, and some people have already been forced to flee multiple times.
Israeli military on guard on Jewish faith’s holiest day
Israel’s military remained on alert even as the country woke up to the silence and empty streets of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, considered the holiest day for the Jewish faith.
Streetlights blinked yellow Monday as the faithful walked to the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City.
“For the next 25 hours, Israel is offline,” the foreign ministry said on X after sundown Sunday. But the military said it bolstered its frontline forces following the killing of an Israeli settler Sunday in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian suspect was detained after a search.
