Iran war latest: Tehran dismisses Trump’s threat of attack, says diplomacy remains as oil prices remain high

Brent crude oil prices were hovering around $115 a barrel early Monday after surging over the weekend on global supply concerns sparked by ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine as the northern hemisphere enters winter with strong natural gas demand.

President Trump has fueled speculation that he may order a resumption of U.S. strikes against Iran after next Tuesday’s midterm elections.

“I have a decision to make: Do I end this, which is easy to do, or do I make a deal? That’s it,” the president told Fox News on Sunday.

While U.S. diplomatic staffing has been reduced, the U.S. has sent more troops to the region, including a third aircraft carrier strike group, and sources told CBS News last week that the overall U.S. military footprint in the Middle East has also been reduced. is quietly decreasing.

CBS/AFP

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a fierce election and the outcome “will not have any impact”.

“It makes no difference to us to be at the helm of a regime that has brought violence and carnage to our region during these elections,” ministry spokesman Esmail Bakay told a weekly news conference the day before Israel’s legislative elections.

Netanyahu claimed on Sunday that Israel had “intelligence that our enemy Iran and its proxies may launch attacks against us to disrupt the elections.”

CBS/AFP

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan will hold talks with Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday on regional security issues, Iranian and Saudi authorities said.

The meeting will come after eight months of war in the Middle East and recent threats by the United States and Israel to attack Iran again.

Ali Bagheri Qani, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said: “As agreed, Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir and Turkish Intelligence Director Ibrahim Kalin will participate in this meeting.”

In an interview with state television, Carney said Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezai would also attend the meeting.

Saudi Arabia’s deputy minister of public diplomacy, Dr. Raed Krimli, confirmed that the kingdom’s defense minister will lead a delegation to Tehran on Monday.

“This visit is part of the ongoing efforts by members of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement to reduce tensions between parties to the current crisis,” Krimley posted on

The aim, he added, was to “promote dialogue and diplomatic solutions and support mediation efforts between Qatar and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan”.

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting alongside the Yemeni government in the country’s civil war said on Monday it had intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis after they claimed a new attack on Riyadh International Airport.

Houthi armed spokesman said the group launched an attack on the airport on SundayJust hours after flights resumed. Deadly rebel attacks earlier this month forced the airport to close for more than two weeks.

Coalition spokesman Turki Al-Malki said on Monday that the air defense system “intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards Riyadh” and destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarri said on Monday that the group “successfully targeted” the airport with ballistic missiles and attacked oil pumping stations with drones.

Saare previously warned that Riyadh airport remained “unsafe” and a “military target” as it prepared to resume international flights.

The airport closure is a major blow to Saudi Arabia, forcing the postponement of the country’s flagship investment conference until 2027 and disrupting travel plans for thousands of passengers.

Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government it backs have come under sustained attack by the Houthis in recent weeks, and a years-long truce collapsed over the summer, diverting the focus from the broader U.S.-Iran war that broke out in February.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran and its allies may try to disrupt Israel’s elections on Tuesday and warned the Islamic Republic against any hostile actions.

“The Israel Defense Forces are prepared both defensively and offensively,” Netanyahu said in a video released by his office on Sunday. The abbreviation used in the film is the Israeli Army.

“We have intelligence that our enemy Iran and its proxies may challenge us with attacks to disrupt the election,” he added. “Don’t test us and you will be hit disproportionately.”

CBS/AFP

President Trump said on Sunday morning that he was deciding whether to strike a deal with Tehran or move to “destroy them” after suggesting on Friday that Washington “might have another little epic fury” over joint U.S.-Israeli military action against Iran.

“Now, my question is, do I make a deal with them or do I kill them?” Trump said in an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

He also claimed that the United States now controls the Strait of Hormuz and criticized former President Barack Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), better known as the Iran nuclear deal. Obama signed the deal in 2015, but Trump withdrew from it during his first term.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that the possibility of resuming war with Israel and the United States would not change Iran’s position.

President Trump said on Friday that Washington “could launch yet another epic fury,” referring to the U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran that began on February 28 and that has followed growing tensions between Tehran and Washington.

“There has been talk recently of a new war, but I am already thinking of the post-war period. Whether there is a war or not, our policy remains the same,” Araghchi said at a televised event in Tehran.

“They’ve done it twice and seen the results. If they want to try it again, they know they’re not going to get different results than they did in the past.”

Direct talks between the United States and Iran appear to have been stalled for weeks, but Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bakkai said earlier on Sunday that Tehran had not closed the diplomatic window and that messages were still being passed to the United States through intermediaries.

CBBC/AFP