Day 198 | Trump claims Houthis requested US non-intervention

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Read more: Day 199 | New explosions rock Iran's Sirik after midnight

Iranian state media reported that several explosions of unknown origin were heard in the coastal city of Sirik, located in the southern Hormozgan province.

Oman’s Foreign Minister said a regional meeting scheduled to take place in Salalah tomorrow has been postponed to help ensure consensus among participating countries.

The minister reaffirmed Oman’s commitment to strengthening dialogue in support of stability and sustainable cooperation across the region.

‘Israel’s’ army and political leadership are set to discuss the deployment of ‘Israeli’ forces in southern Lebanon, according to ‘Israel’s’ public broadcaster.

The broadcaster reported that the army carried out a localized withdrawal from the Ali al-Taher heights toward the Shakif heights after destroying tunnels in the area.

The Walla news site, citing ‘Israeli’ security officials, reported that the army would carry out a “tactical withdrawal” from Ali al-Taher to positions it considers better suited to protecting its forces.

Houthi spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said Saudi Arabia carried out 58 airstrikes across several Yemeni provinces over the past 24 hours.

Saree said the strikes targeted Taiz, Lahj, Al Jawf, Hajjah, Al Bayda and Saada provinces.

He claimed the strikes were carried out by F-15 fighter jets that took off from the Khamis Mushait air base. The claims have not been independently verified.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he held a constructive meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New Delhi.

“For the first time since the war and the problems we experienced in the Persian Gulf, we held a meeting with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi,” Pezeshkian said.

He said the two sides discussed their concerns and agreed to “put the past aside and look forward to the future” while exploring ways to build a shared future.

Pezeshkian added that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi continued the discussions afterward, describing the interactions as constructive.

• Saudi Civil Defense says a Houthi-launched projectile damaged a mosque and other civilian property in Jazan.
• Two people were injured, according to Saudi authorities.
• A Houthi military source denies responsibility, claiming Saudi air defense interceptors caused the damage.

Saudi Civil Defense said Sunday that a projectile launched by the Houthis damaged a mosque, several buildings and vehicles in Al-Tuwal Governorate in the Jazan Region, injuring two people.

The Saudi Civil Defense spokesperson described the incident as an attack by the "terrorist Houthi militia" and said targeting civilian objects constitutes a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law."

The Houthis denied responsibility for the damage.

Read more: Houthis claim strike on military base in southern Saudi

A Houthi military source in Sana'a rejected the Saudi account as "entirely baseless," according to Saba News Agency.

The source said Houthi offensive missiles have "big and known impact characteristics" and claimed the damage was caused by Saudi air defense interceptor missiles that failed to hit their intended targets before falling into populated areas.

The US Embassy in Beirut said the Lebanese and ‘Israeli’ ambassadors will meet in Washington next week to discuss implementation of the trilateral framework.

The embassy added that the next round of official Lebanese-‘Israeli’ talks will be held in Rome in October.

Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defense issued an emergency alert for the Khamis Mushait and Abha areas, warning residents of potential danger.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs condemned an attack on a commercial vessel off the coast of Oman earlier today.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said BRICS has rejected the use of unilateral sanctions and coercive measures against countries.

Pezeshkian made the remarks as the BRICS summit brought together member states to discuss economic and political cooperation.

Saudi oil buyers and traders say the Saudi pipeline outage could affect 4 percent of global oil supply if pumping isn’t resumed within days, the Reuters news agency reports.

Oil stocks for exports could run out, according to the oil traders, further hammering the global oil supply affected by the ongoing US war on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Arabia was forced to shut its East-West oil pipeline on Friday after a drone attack launched from Iraqi territory. It’s unclear how much time is needed to repair the damage and resume pumping.

More than 500 Yemeni troops have been killed and around 1,500 injured in clashes with the Houthis, according to reports by Yemen’s government-aligned National Resistance Forces carried by local media.

The figures cover fighting along Yemen’s western coast between August 9 and September 10.

The National Resistance Forces also claimed that Houthi losses were significantly higher during the fighting, without providing independently verified figures.

Iran and the United Arab Emirates, whose relations have deteriorated since the start of the Middle East war, want to "turn the page", the Iranian president said on Sunday.

"We had a constructive exchange with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi," Massoud Pezeshkian said a day after a meeting with Sheikh Khaled Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in India, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.

"It was agreed that we would turn the page, look to the future and build it together."

A group of Iranian hardliners carried out unauthorized attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz in early July this year, derailing fragile peace efforts between Tehran and Washington, according to a New York Times report based on interviews with Iranian officials.

President Masoud Pezeshkian, who had been optimistic after negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States aimed at ending the war and easing economic pressures, learned of the strikes while attending funeral ceremonies for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iranian forces had opened fire on three vessels, setting a Qatari LNG tanker ablaze and damaging others, sparking international condemnation.

Outraged, Pezeshkian phoned Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and demanded answers in a raised voice.

Vahidi replied that he had neither authorized nor known about the attacks in advance.

The Supreme National Security Council, central to both wartime decisions and negotiations, was also in the dark.

Investigations by Iranian authorities traced the decision to a fringe hard-line faction led by cleric Hossein Taeb, a former longtime head of IRGC intelligence who was recently appointed to lead the Basij militia.

Taeb had opposed the peace deal with the United States from the start.

Officials said field commanders acted under standing orders empowering them to strike vessels challenging Iran’s claimed control of the strait, without seeking higher approval.

The hard-liners exploited a leadership vacuum.

The new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen in public since taking power after his father’s death in the war’s opening strikes, and the authenticity of statements attributed to him has been questioned even by Pezeshkian.

The attacks provoked a swift US military response and ultimately collapsed the Memorandum of Understanding.

“The attack on the ships was orchestrated with the goal to blow up the memorandum of understanding with Trump and to kill the prospects of any future negotiations and deal,” said Alireza Namvar Haghighi, an Iran expert and former official with close government contacts.

The episode triggered some of the most volatile disagreements among Iranian leaders in recent years, with several officials threatening to resign.

Iran has asked Russia for advanced Geran drones to bolster its forces in the conflict with ‘Israel’ and the United States, according to Western security officials and a person close to the Kremlin cited by the Financial Times.

Russia’s drone capabilities have advanced significantly through wartime experience in Ukraine, prompting Tehran to seek the improved systems this year.

The Geran series consists of Russian-produced versions of Iran’s own Shahed-136 design, which Moscow received from Tehran early in its war against Ukraine and then refined with better engines, navigation systems, and anti-jamming features.

Senior Iranian and Russian officials began secretly discussing drone deliveries days after ‘Israel’ and the US conducted strikes on Iran in late February 2026, two officials briefed on Western intelligence told the FT.

Processing of the shipments, which also included medicine and food, began in early March and was expected to finish by the end of that month.

Western sources indicated Moscow was in a position to supply models such as the Geran-2.

“The Russians dramatically improved the Shaheds, including modifications to the engines, navigation and anti-jamming capabilities. So these systems are already more advanced than the ones Iran was producing domestically,” said Nicole Grajewski, a professor at Sciences Po who researches the Russia-Iran relationship.

Antonio Giustozzi, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, noted that Tehran was not seeking sheer volume.

“They don’t need more drones. They need better drones. They are after the more advanced capabilities,” he said, adding that he had independently heard from sources in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps about the talks.

A senior Western official said Moscow was “stepping in to shore up not only the Iranians’ fighting capabilities but also to underwrite the broader political stability of Tehran’s regime.”

Iran has also sought advanced air-defense systems; the two sides agreed in December 2025 on the delivery of 500 Verba man-portable units and 2,500 missiles, though Russia rejected requests for the more sophisticated S-400.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the reports as “false news stories” or “a lot of fakes,” while acknowledging ongoing dialogue with Iranian leaders.

Iraqi authorities announced on Sunday a timeline to reopen three crossings with Iran, a day after closing them following a drone attack originating from their shared border on a Saudi pipeline.

After the Friday night attack on the East-West pipeline, Baghdad sacked the military commander in Missan province near the Iran border, after authorities determined the drones were launched from there.

The government then closed three crossings, citing the need to reorganize operations and boost intelligence efforts to stop violations.

Two Iraqi security sources told AFP on Saturday that drone launchers were found near the al-Shib border crossing in Missan.

The government's security media cell said Sunday that "after reviewing operations at the border crossings," they would gradually reopen for passengers and trade on a timeline from Sunday until Thursday.

The crossings are Shalamsheh in Basra, al-Shib in Missan, and al-Mandali in Diyala.

Shalamsheh and al-Shib reopened to passengers on Sunday but not to trade, the government media cell said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and an alliance of Iran-backed Iraqi armed factions said they hadn't struck the pipeline, though Riyadh had previously accused Iraqi groups of targeting its oil infrastructure.

In July, the United States and Saudi Arabia said they had struck Iran-backed fighters in Iraq in response to attacks on Saudi oil facilities.

Pro-Iran armed groups have supported Tehran during the Middle East war, claiming hundreds of attacks on US bases in Iraq and across the region.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian declared on Saturday that Iran will not surrender to pressure from the United States, accusing the US military of attacking civilian infrastructure rather than engaging Iran’s military.

In a post on X, Pezeshkian wrote: “If Americans are warriors, let them face our valiant military forces. Why wage war on civilian infrastructure, food supplies, and livelihoods? If they’re human, why deny people access to water, food, and medicine? Our people can’t be bullied into submission. Iran won’t surrender.”

The statement came as Pezeshkian attended the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India. It forms part of broader remarks in which he said Iran has stood against the United States and ‘Israel’ and will not yield to what he described as bullying.

If Americans are warriors, let them face our valiant military forces. Why wage war on civilian infrastructure, food supplies, and livelihoods? If they're human, why deny people access to water, food, and medicine? Our people can't be bullied into submission. Iran won't surrender.

— Masoud Pezeshkian (@drpezeshkian) September 12, 2026

One person was killed and three others were injured after an Iranian commercial vessel was struck early Sunday near Qeshm Island, Iranian authorities said, according to state television IRIB.

Amir Taymouri, the governor of Qeshm County, said the vessel was hit at around 5 AM local time in waters near Hengam Island and the Shib Deraz coast of Qeshm Island.

Iranian authorities described the incident as an attack by the "terrorist enemy," but no further details were immediately released and there was no claim of responsibility.

A commercial vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an unknown projectile, according to an advisory issued by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

The advisory, designated as Warning 134-26, confirmed that the incident occurred on September 12, at approximately 23:00 UTC, within the strategic choke point connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

UKMTO WARNING 134-26

Click here to view the full product.https://t.co/OnrNP6WOlF#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/nhxqzZGwnO

— UKMTO Operations Centre (@UK_MTO) September 13, 2026

UKMTO verified the report, noting that maritime authorities have initiated an investigation into the attack.

At the time of the warning's publication on September 13, 2026, the condition of the vessel's crew, the extent of structural damage, and potential environmental impacts remained unconfirmed.

UKMTO instructed all mariners operating in the area to proceed with heightened caution and to report any suspicious activity immediately while security forces and relevant authorities investigate the attack.