Gulf Shipping Attacks Hit Monthly Record as Iran War Tensions Spread Across the Region

Security concerns in the Gulf and across the wider Middle East remained acute on 24 October, as new incidents at sea and in the air added to fears over the Iran war.

Forces of the Saudi-led coalition said they had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile and a drone fired towards Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's Directorate of Civil Defence separately warned residents of potential danger and urged them to follow safety instructions. Minutes later it said the danger had passed in the capital Riyadh, Najran and Wadi al-Dawasir.

At sea, the navy of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said two supertankers struck naval mines while trying to use an unauthorised route south of the Strait of Hormuz. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations also reported that a tanker was hit by an unknown projectile seven nautical miles off the Omani coast. According to data from a Washington-based think tank that has tracked maritime security incidents worldwide since 2017, October has been the worst month on record for attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and nearby waters.

Rhetoric between the sides sharpened. Speaking at a rally in Florida, US President Donald Trump said Washington might launch another military operation against Iran. Major General Abdollahi, Iran's armed forces chief of staff, replied that "under no circumstances will we allow rusting US warships to re-enter the Persian Gulf". Mohammed Mokhber, an adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said the threats of war and "psychological warfare" from Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "betray desperation rather than power".

On the diplomatic front, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is due to travel to Moscow next week. He is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and to take part in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit on 27 October. In London, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Britain is "redoubling" its efforts to find diplomatic solutions to the conflict, which he said is "driving up bills for families in Britain".

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces made Palestinian residents of Hebron leave their homes on foot and demolished several buildings near the area where two Israeli soldiers were shot dead. Troops also detained dozens of people during raids across the territory.

In Syria, protest rallies took place on Friday against repeated Israeli incursions in the country's south. The demonstrations followed an incursion earlier this week that killed a man with a disability.

Elsewhere, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the time had come to reunify Libya's rival eastern and western administrations, and hinted at an announcement on the issue in the near future.

In Israel, Netanyahu warned that the country should prepare for international banking sanctions and suggested that cryptocurrency could help it get around them. His comments came just four days before the Knesset election.