3 hours agoPinnedIranian cleric threatens oil shipping, regional airports amid Hormuz tensionsAn Iranian cleric warned Friday that oil tankers and airports across the region could face disruption if Iran’s oil exports or air travel are cut off, according to Iran International.Hossein Hosseini Karnami, the Friday prayer leader in Sari, tied Iran’s fate to that of its neighbors during a sermon.”If our airport is to be closed, no airport in the region will remain open, and if our oil is not exported, no oil tanker will pass through the Persian Gulf,” Karnami said, according to the outlet.He also said “resistance and the soldiers of this land” would help determine whether the Strait of Hormuz remained open or closed.The remarks came the same day the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported that a tanker traveling through the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an unknown projectile, resulting in a small fire and blackout. No casualties were reported.Iran International did not report that Karnami was announcing an official policy of Iran’s government or military.Posted by Brittany Miller20 mins agoG7 to tap emergency reserves for 100 million barrels as energy prices surgeThe G7 will release 100 million barrels of oil and diesel from emergency reserves in an effort to stabilize energy supplies as the Iran war pushes prices higher, according to Reuters.The four-month release will begin immediately, with a substantial amount of diesel expected to enter the market during the first 20 days, according to a joint statement.President Donald Trump announced Friday that Europe had agreed to release a “massive” amount of diesel and said the U.S. would not restrict its own diesel exports.”Europe has a lot of diesel, and they’re going to be making a major world contribution, and so are we. And we’re not going to be doing the export ban,” Trump said.The move comes as disruptions from the Iran war have strained energy markets and increased Europe’s reliance on U.S. diesel.Posted by Brittany Miller53 mins agoIran floats political engagement with Houthis as alternative to military action, Pakistan saysIran has floated political engagement with Yemen’s Houthis as an alternative to military action following attacks by the group, Pakistan’s foreign minister said Friday, according to Iran International.Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the idea emerged during discussions with Tehran and is not a formal proposal.”There is no written, solid offer. It is brainstorming between two foreign ministers,” Dar said.The proposal is expected to be discussed next week when Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey hold an emergency meeting in Riyadh under their Makkah Joint Defence Agreement.Dar also said Iranian officials had distanced Tehran from the Houthis and Iraqi militias and indicated they wanted the situation resolved.Posted by Brittany Miller1 hour agoFlyDubai co-pilot was grounded after visiting radical Islamic websites: sourceThe FlyDubai co-pilot accused of stabbing the captain of a passenger jet mid-flight and nearly causing a catastrophic crash was grounded by Oman Air in 2024 after the airline discovered he had been visiting radical Islamic websites, according to a source familiar with the matter.Authorities believe the co-pilot moved to Dubai later that same year, according to the source, who also told Fox News the co-pilot spent a significant part of his life outside Oman, including with his mother, who is from Syria.According to the source, FlyDubai did not check with Oman Air about the co-pilot before hiring him.The new details come as The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter, that the Omani national had previously been banned from flying over concerns he had adopted radical ideological views before later being hired by FlyDubai. The newspaper reported it was unclear whether Omani officials shared those concerns with other countries or airlines.Fox News has not independently verified the reason the co-pilot was grounded by Oman Air.This is an excerpt of an article from Fox News Digital’s Brittany Miller and John RobertsPosted by Brittany Miller2 hours agoTrump counterterrorism chief says Iran will ‘imminently be resolved’President Donald Trump’s counterterrorism chief said the administration’s standoff with Iran will “imminently be resolved,” while offering no details about what could come next.Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, made the comment in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.Gorka said Trump’s demands regarding Iran’s nuclear program, support for proxies and activities in the region have not changed.”Nothing has changed with regard to the president,” Gorka said. “Now the decision lies with the mullah in Iran.”Gorka did not explain what he meant by “imminently” or indicate whether his remarks referred to military action, diplomacy or another potential development.Posted by Brittany Miller3 hours agoSenior UAE official calls FlyDubai incident an ‘act of terrorism’A senior United Arab Emirates official publicly characterized the suspected attack aboard a FlyDubai flight to Israel as terrorism for the first time Friday as investigators continued working to determine the alleged attacker’s motive and whether he acted alone.Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, called the incident a “dangerous and potentially catastrophic act of terrorism” while praising pilot Smit Machchhar, according to The Times of Israel.Authorities say Machchhar was stabbed by his Omani co-pilot before passengers and other pilots aboard the flight intervened. The aircraft, carrying around 180 passengers, made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said investigators are now examining whether someone directed the alleged attacker.”We are clarifying right now if he was sent,” Netanyahu said. “And whoever sent him will pay a heavy price.”No connection to Iran has been established. President Donald Trump said Thursday that Tehran may have been involved but said the investigation remained underway.Posted by Brittany Miller3 hours agoIran’s currency sinks to new low as investors scramble for alternativesIran’s currency fell to a new low this week as investors increasingly turned to stocks, gold and U.S. dollars amid mounting economic pressure from the war, according to Iran International.The open-market dollar rose 1.49% Thursday to 2,593,000 rials, its highest level in a year, Iran International reported.At the same time, Iran’s stock market has surged. The Tehran Stock Exchange reached a record 7,766,000 points Wednesday and has risen 109% since the beginning of the Iranian year, according to the outlet.Iranian economic newspaper Donya-ye Eghtesad argued that the stock rally does not necessarily signal confidence in the country’s economy, with investors also moving money into gold, coins and dollars as the rial loses value.The Iranian government has attempted to ease pressure on the currency, announcing this week that its central bank would sell up to $2 billion in cash. Tehran’s prosecutor also ordered action against what authorities called “market disruptors,” including online channels publishing exchange rates, according to Iran International.The economic pressure comes as Iranian oil exports have been curtailed, limiting a major source of foreign currency for Tehran. The Trump administration said Thursday that Iran did not load a single barrel of crude oil onto tankers in September, calling it a milestone in its “Operation Economic Outcast.”Posted by Brittany Miller4 hours agoIsraeli plumber who subdued suspected FlyDubai hijacker meets US ambassadorAn Israeli plumber who helped subdue the suspected attacker during an apparent hijacking attempt on a FlyDubai flight met with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Friday.Huckabee identified the man as Yaniv and said he came to the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem after the incident.”Israeli plumber who heroically subdued terrorist & grabbed the controls of plane came to @usembassyjlm & I gave him my autographed hat from @POTUS,” Huckabee wrote on X. “Yaniv & Meital Hayoun inspired the world. He loves @realDonaldTrump & I’ll post his message to @POTUS later. What a story!”The meeting comes after a FlyDubai flight traveling from the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia Wednesday after the pilot allegedly was stabbed by his co-pilot in the cockpit.President Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran would be hit “very hard” if investigators determine Tehran was behind the suspected hijacking attempt.Posted by Brittany Miller4 hours agoUS, partners vow to continue efforts targeting Iran’s nuclear, missile programsThe United States and international partners reaffirmed Friday their commitment to countering Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, one year after United Nations restrictions on Tehran returned to force.In a joint statement released by the State Department, the U.S. and Proliferation Security Initiative partners said they would continue taking measures to prevent the supply, sale or transfer to Iran of materials, equipment and technology that could contribute to proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities or nuclear weapon delivery systems.The countries also committed to preventing prohibited transfers involving weapons of mass destruction, their means of delivery, including UAVs, and other materials covered by the reinstated UN arms restrictions.”We welcome all national-level efforts to implement our UNSCR obligations, as well as relevant activities that support our objective of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, such as those linked to Operation Economic Outcast,” the statement said.The countries also called on Iran to comply with its nonproliferation obligations, cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency and address international concerns about its nuclear program.Posted by Brittany Miller5 hours agoTreasury Department dismantles ‘major Hamas financing network’The Treasury Department announced Friday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned “a member of Hamas’s military wing, along with two France-based individuals and two affiliated entities that provide critical financing to Hamas.” “These designations expose a sophisticated, multi‑year financing architecture that moved more than $2 million to Hamas through deceptive charitable fronts and cryptocurrency channels, demonstrating the organization’s persistent ability to adapt its fundraising mechanisms to evade detection,” the department said in a statement. It added that Saleem Abdallah Saleem al-Zaq, who was targeted in Friday’s action, “is a Gaza-based battalion deputy in the Hamas military wing who oversees a financial network that has used various money services businesses and cryptocurrency wallets to transfer significant funds to the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades.”Faouzi Barika (Barika) and Amel Oualid (Oualid) operate from France, where they run purported charities ostensibly to raise money for humanitarian purposes to aid Gazan civilians. In reality, they partner with al-Zaq to raise and transfer money directly to him, which al-Zaq in turn funnels to Hamas,” it continued. State Department spokesman Thomas Pigott said “this action underscores the enduring U.S. commitment to dismantling Hamas’s global support networks and denying the group the resources it needs to plan and carry out terrorism that threatens the security of Americans, our partners, and the broader Middle East. “It reflects close coordination between the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, and the FBI to expose how Hamas exploits humanitarian and charitable structures abroad to disguise terrorist financing as legitimate aid work,” he also said. Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond6 hours agoTanker hit with ‘unknown projectile’ in the Strait of Hormuz, UKMTO saysThe United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) said Friday that a tanker has been struck while traveling through the Strait of Hormuz. “The Master of a tanker has reported being struck by an unknown projectile, whilst conducting an outbound transit, resulting in a small fire and blackout onboard. The fire has since been extinguished and the vessel is underway,” the UKMTO said. “There are no reported casualties or environmental impact,” it added. Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond6 hours agoEurope will release ‘massive’ amount of diesel oil, Trump saysPresident Donald Trump said Friday that “Europe has just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked diesel oil” and that “the process will begin immediately.” The announcement comes as energy prices remain elevated during the U.S. war against Iran. The Group of Seven nations released a statement Friday saying it “convened a virtual meeting to address the deepening challenges to our energy security.”Facing unprecedented volatility in oil markets – with surging prices threatening economic stability and the well-being of our citizens – we have agreed on decisive, coordinated measures to stabilize immediate energy supplies, shield households and businesses from price shocks, and strengthen the long-term resilience of global energy systems,” the statement read. It added that the nations will conduct “a coordinated release through the International Energy Agency of 100 million barrels to begin immediately over 4 months, including a frontloaded substantial diesel release within the first 20 days by G7 members and partners.” Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond8 hours agoIran’s military has ‘operational oversight’ of Strait of Hormuz, lawmaker claimsAn Iranian lawmaker claimed Friday that Tehran is in control of the Strait of Hormuz, a report said.Mohammadreza Rezaei Kouchi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s civil affairs committee, said Iran’s military has “full intelligence and operational oversight” of the key waterway, according to Iran International.“Any vessel seeking to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and any developments there, will be subject solely to the will of Iran’s armed forces,” he reportedly added.President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States has “almost total control” of the Strait of Hormuz.“I would say total control,” he said before adding that “everyone said, ‘Well, they’ll drop a mine in there and disrupt things a little bit,’ but we have virtually total control of the strait.”Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey contributed to this post.Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond9 hours agoHostile action is ‘highly likely’ for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, UKTMO warnsThe United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) said in a new report issued Friday that the threat environment in the Middle East “remains elevated” for commercial shipping as “no diplomatic resolution has been achieved.” It assessed the risks as following: “Strait of Hormuz SEVERE (hostile action highly likely, continued navigation interference and potential mining activity); Gulf of Oman MODERATE (ongoing electronic interference and enforcement activity); Arabian Gulf MODERATE (navigation interference and residual kinetic risk remain present).” In the Strait of Hormuz, “Commercial vessels continue to be targeted on the southern route, with ongoing military activity sustaining an increased risk to maritime operations,” according to UKMTO. “Since 6 Jul 26, 31 of 48 projectile strike incidents reported to UKMTO have occurred on the southern Omani route. There is probably other projectile strikes occurring that have NOT been reported to UKMTO,” it also said. The warnings come as Reuters, citing data from S&P Global Energy, reported Friday that 19 liquefied natural gas cargoes exited the Strait of Hormuz in September, the highest monthly level since the onset of the U.S.-Iran war in February. Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond10 hours agoIsrael’s military eliminates Hamas sniper who was planning ‘terror attacks’The Israel Defense Forces announced Friday that it has killed a Hamas sniper who was planning “to carry out terror attacks against IDF forces.” “Last night, the IDF and Shin Bet attacked in the Khan Younis area and eliminated the terrorist Thamer Hamaida, who served as a sniper in the Hamas terror organization,” the IDF said. “Throughout the war, the terrorist advanced terror plots and sniper attacks against IDF forces and Israeli civilians. The terrorist was eliminated in an aerial strike,” it added. Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond10 hours agoTrump could still unleash ‘major combat operation’ against Iran following troop surge, Keane saysRet. Gen. Jack Keane told “Fox & Friends” on Friday that President Donald Trump still has the option of returning to a “major combat operation” against Iran as the U.S. is sending the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit to the Middle East. U.S. officials said to Fox News on Thursday that the ships are set to arrive in the region by the end of November and that these new deployments will add about 10,000 sailors and Marines to the Middle East. When asked Friday for his reaction to the new deployment, Keane said, “We’ve always anticipated — the Israelis and the United States — that Iran would likely escalate, prior to the elections in Israel in October, the elections in the United States in November. “So that is likely part of what has taken place here,” he told “Fox & Friends.” “But it’s also — the president has on the table, and he’s never taken it off — returning to major combat operation. For our audience, as a reminder, that’s combined operations U.S. and Israel. Likely a much shorter period of time, likely a much more massive attack than anything we’ve ever seen before.” Our intelligence is pristine. I mean, we’ve been tracking everything the Iranians are doing. Think about it, since the ceasefire on April the 7th. So we know where everything is, and we know what we need to do to deal with it. And obviously, we have priorities that certain things are very important. And it would provide complete devastation to this regime and its ability to go forward,” added Keane, a retired four-star general. “No doubt we can put it on a path for its collapse. And I’m making the assumption that the CIA and the Mossad are working full time here to undermine the regime, fracture it, and also work with groups that want to provide some significant resistance to the regime. Let’s just make an assumption that that’s also taken place,” he added. Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey and Liz Friden contributed to this post. Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond11 hours agoRussia’s A7 Network payment platform claims no links to Iran after being hit with Treasury sanctionsA Russian payment platform targeted by the Treasury Department this week for allegedly helping the Iranian regime evade sanctions is claiming it has no connection to Tehran. The Treasury Department said Thursday that under Operation Economic Outcast, it “took unprecedented action against the A7 Network, a shadow banking network with ties to Russia used by the Iranian regime to evade sanctions.” “The A7 Network was created and backed by U.S.-sanctioned persons in order to evade sanctions. It has developed a global web of Sub-Agents, companies that are purpose-built to disguise payments linked to sanctioned sectors and persons as ordinary commercial activity,” according to the Treasury. “The A7 Network has been leveraged by Iran, including Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.” The A7 Network, which was established in 2024 by Russian state-owned Promsvyazbank (PSB), said Friday that it “categorically rejects any allegations that it has worked with Iran or terrorist organizations,” according to Reuters. The platform reportedly added that it is providing “legitimate import and export operations involving consumer goods and commodities.”Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond11 hours agoIsrael arrests citizen accused of spying for Iran: reportIsraeli police and the Shin Bet internal security agency have arrested a 25-year-old Arab Israeli citizen on suspicion of spying for Iran, according to The Times of Israel. The website, citing a joint statement from both agencies, reported that Mohammad Halaf recently was taken into custody in the city of Baqa al-Gharbiya. Halaf is alleged to have contacted Iranian agents and carried out missions on their behalf in exchange for “thousands of shekels,” the report said. It added that Halaf is expected to appear in Haifa District Court on Friday on a charge of harming state security. Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond12 hours agoTrump says US ‘trying to be nice’ to Iran leader: ‘We’ve got to deal with somebody’President Donald Trump said Thursday that the U.S. is “trying to be nice” to Iran’s current leader as it seeks someone to negotiate with, saying most of the country’s leadership is gone.Trump made the remarks while discussing the war with Iran during an appearance at a Peterbilt factory in Denton, Texas.“For the most part, their leaders are gone,” Trump said.“That was one of our problems. We don’t know who the hell to deal with, to be honest,” he added.“We’re trying to be nice to the current person, but we’ve got to deal with somebody at some point. So we’re doing very well.”Trump also expressed confidence in the war’s outcome, predicting a quick resolution.“We’ll win very easily,” he added, stating he believes victory will come “right after the election—but maybe before the election.”“Their currency is valueless. They have no money. They have no Navy—all 159 ships are lying beautifully at the bottom of the sea.” he said.“They have some missiles, but we can handle it. Very few are left, and their manufacturing capacity is dead,” Trump added.Yesterday’s Fox News Digital live blog offers additional coverage of the conflict against Iran.12 hours agoTrump says Iran will be hit ‘very hard’ if regime is behind FlyDubai plane incidentPresident Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that Iran would be hit “very hard” if it is determined that the regime was behind the suspected hijacking attempt of a FlyDubai plane heading to Israel earlier this week. The president made the remark after being asked if the U.S. would retaliate against Iran if they were involved in the incident. The aircraft, which left the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday for Tel Aviv, was diverted to Saudi Arabia after the pilot allegedly was stabbed by his co-pilot in the cockpit. “Oh, they’ll be hit very hard. Don’t worry,” Trump said. “By the U.S.?” a reporter then asked. “You just ask them,” Trump responded. “They know what happens.” When Fox News’ senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Trump earlier whether he had been briefed about any potential link between the suspect and Iran, the president responded that while the investigation is ongoing, it appeared to be a possibility.”I would say the answer, based on what I’m hearing is yes, but we’re working on it right now,” Trump said.Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace contributed to this post.Posted by Greg Norman-DiamondLive Coverage begins here
