Iranian army official warns US, Israel against 'miscalculation'

Oil prices settled mixed on Monday as investors considered the fallout from attacks by the Houthis on a Yemeni military training camp and strikes targeting Saudi energy, airports and infrastructure.

Global benchmark Brent crude futures dropped 31 cents to settle at $109.55 a barrel, recovering from a session low when prices had tumbled by more than $3, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $2.25 to settle at $103.66 a barrel — its highest closing level since Sept. 15, the outlet said.

President Donald Trump said Monday that his request for NATO allies to help the United States with Iran was a test of their willingness to support Washington.

“When we ask for help and Iran help, which we didn't need, we didn't need — but I wanted to, I was testing, I wanted to find out.

“Listen, would you help?” Trump said he asked NATO allies.

“Because we spend so much money in NATO, so we asked for help that we didn't need.

“I wanted to see they weren't there to help. They said, it's just something that we can never really forget, " Trump added.

“You know, we spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year on NATO protecting them.

“But when we said, would you like to help? No," he said.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth met privately with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Monday, Axios reported.

Citing sources and the outlet said the "unanounced" meeting comes just days ahead of Israel's national elections and as both nations discuss potentially resuming military operations against Iran.

A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment.

Iran's IRGC spokesperson issued a threat against critical global communications infrastructure on Monday, Iran International reported.

“Seven major cables pass beneath the Strait of Hormuz, and all the world’s internet and commercial data depend on them,” Hossein Mohebbi said.

“We are reminding the enemy of this so they know.”

The statement marks the latest in a series of warnings from Iranian hardliners targeting digital networks across the Persian Gulf.

On Sunday, security chief Mohsen Rezaei threatened to strike data centers, undersea internet cables and artificial intelligence facilities if the U.S. and Israel resume strikes.

Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said Monday it had added 122 vessels to its "non-conformity list" for violating transit protocols in the Strait of Hormuz.

“More than 40 vessels have been contacted,” the authority said, adding that 19 vessels are currently in negotiations to avoid being added to the list or secure their removal.

“2 vessels have agreed to be removed from the list by fulfilling their obligations,” the PGSA said on X.

About 30 additional vessels could be added to the list if they fail to respond to notices, the authority said.

Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Irish Ambassador Aidan Cronin on Monday to protest an Oct. 16 European Union statement that criticized Tehran's domestic crackdown and maritime actions.

The EU statement condemned Iran's threats to shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, highlighted concerns over executions and called on Tehran to respect the fundamental rights of its citizens.

Alireza Yousefi, a senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official, rejected the EU's claims and blamed regional maritime insecurity on U.S. and Israeli military strikes.

He also accused the EU of employing double standards regarding human rights and criticized its stance on Iran's nuclear program, Iran International reported.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang condemned the U.S.-Israeli military strikes against Iran on Monday and pledged support for Tehran's rights during a meeting with Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref.

Li denounced the strikes as “blatant aggression” because they were conducted without U.N. Security Council authorization and during ongoing negotiations, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Li also urged "all parties concerned" to pursue peace, resume talks and resolve differences through diplomatic means to help restore peace to the region as soon as possible, Reuters reported, citing China's state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref accused Ukraine on Monday of destabilizing the Caspian region while threatening food and grain trade between Iran and Russia.

During a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Aref highlighted the fragility of northern supply lines.

“Ukraine has caused some instability in this region, in the north of our country,” Aref said, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

In addition to discussing trade disruptions, the officials covered expanding Iran’s integration with the Eurasian Economic Union and ongoing developments at the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Asim Munir, will travel to Tehran on Tuesday for high-level diplomatic talks, Reuters reported, citing officials.

The visit comes as Pakistan continues to serve as a mediator between the United States and Iran.

Building on previous negotiations with Iranian leaders, Munir’s discussions will focus on ending the regional conflict, preventing further military escalation and reopening the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media also reported.

President Donald Trump said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has stayed out of the U.S. conflict with Iran, calling Moscow's restraint a positive development as negotiations over the war in Ukraine continue.

“We also have a very good situation with respect to Iran. He's laying off Iran,” Trump told reporters before departing for Kansas.

“It's nice because we're hitting Iran very hard, as you know, and economically as well as militarily, and Russia has done nothing there that we can see.

“I think that's a very positive,” he said before adding that “we're negotiating with him on Ukraine.”

“So, I'm not looking to break up negotiations right in the middle,” Trump said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday for talks focused on bilateral relations and the situation in the Middle East, according to Iranian media.

Pezeshkian and Lavrov discussed relations between Tehran and Moscow and ways to strengthen cooperation, Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported.

The meeting came after Lavrov also held talks earlier Monday with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Lavrov, Araghchi said regional disputes should be resolved through diplomacy and blamed the United States for insecurity and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said he and U.S. President Donald Trump would eliminate “the Iranian threat,” sharing a video of their phone conversation on X.

“Together we are going to remove the Iranian threat forever!” Netanyahu wrote, sharing the video after Trump endorsed him for reelection.

During the call, Netanyahu told Trump they had unfinished work and pledged they would finish it together, saying no one else could do it.

“You're a great warrior. And we will prove that. We will prove that, you know, I think you're terrific, by the way,” Trump responded.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed his relationship with President Donald Trump and the IDF’s military objectives amid conflict in the Middle East and more on ‘Life, Liberty & Levin.’

The "vast majority" of Iran's attempted attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz are "unsuccessful" as the key waterway remains open for transit, U.S. Central Command spokesperson and U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins told Fox News Digital.

Hawkins spoke after CENTCOM said the GFS Pride, a Singapore-flagged, Cyprus-owned container ship was hit by an Iranian projectile in the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday and sunk while being towed ashore due to a fire on board the ship.

"The vast majority of Iran's attempted attacks on innocent civilian mariners transiting an international waterway, being the Strait of Hormuz, they are unsuccessful," Hawkins said.

"As a matter of fact, the U.S. military has assisted in providing coordinated protection for thousands of ships that have safely transited.

"That translates to about 97% of the ships that have sought to transit the Strait of Hormuz have done so successfully without being hit by an Iranian projectile.

"But let's be clear here. What the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran is doing is unjustified, and it's also unsuccessful because they are not achieving their objective of closing the Strait of Hormuz," he added.

"It is open, it is available for transit and we've seen that transit continue this very day."

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Greg Norman. 

Fox News' Trey Yingst reports the lates in the Middle East as he says the regime is Tehran is preparing for conflict with the U.S. to escalate once again.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., the war in Iran and other issues during an appearance on Fox News on Sunday.

Luna argued that President Donald Trump has achieved all of the U.S. objectives in the conflict.

Attendees at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Exposition were skeptical of President Donald Trump’s signal that a deal with Iran to end the war may be near, arguing the United States needs to continue its military and economic pressure on Tehran to bring the conflict to a close.

"Look at history, and that area only respects strength, right?" a member of AUSA’s Marne chapter in Georgia told Fox News Digital about Iran. "We're not going to get a deal with them. We're going to have to, unfortunately, beat them into submission.

"There is no such thing as negotiation. So, I think we're probably looking at at least another year, if not two."

The war began in February with joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. The conflict has continued despite an April ceasefire and a June agreement intended to pave the way for a broader settlement, which later collapsed amid renewed fighting.

Trump still signals optimism about ending the conflict, saying earlier this month that Iran was "ready to fold up" and suggesting the war could end before the November midterm elections.

"It looks like you guys are holding off because of the midterms," Lincoln from Australia said.

"But it also appears that the Gulf allies need to step up and start doing something for themselves, for their own defense," Lincoln said. "Saudi Arabia doesn't seem to be doing enough.

"It shouldn't just be the United States providing security for the entire world."

Thousands of sailors remain stranded near the Strait of Hormuz amid escalating attacks on commercial ships, the United Nations' top maritime official warned Sunday after Iran accused the U.S. military of using an international emergency radio channel to threaten civilian crews.

The warning also came amid reports that 24 ships had been attacked on the waterway over roughly two weeks, underscoring growing concerns about maritime safety in the region, according to Financial Times.

"The situation continues to be severe and critical when it comes to international shipping," International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told Fox News Digital.

"There is a double blockade and too many vessels have been attacked, particularly in recent days.

"Seafarers have continued to perish in these attacks and around 6,000 seafarers remain trapped since the beginning of the conflict," he warned, adding that his message was not to transit the Strait of Hormuz or put seafarers at risk "until we have guarantees."

Dominguez's warning followed an Oct. 9 letter to the IMO in which Iran alleged that the U.S. military used VHF Channel 16, an internationally designated maritime distress and safety channel, to intimidate Iranian crews in the Persian Gulf.

"VHF Channel 16 has been repeatedly occupied for prolonged periods by the United States military forces operating in the Persian Gulf," the letter stated.

"During such transmissions, Iranian seafarers have been addressed in Persian with threatening, abusive and provocative language and in certain instances urged to abandon their vessels."

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Emma Bussey.

President Donald Trump is supporting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party in the Oct. 27 Knesset elections, urging Israel voters to pick the man he called a "great warrior" and U.S. "partner for peace" amid the multi-front war on Iran and its nuclear weapons aspirations.

"I have watched Bibi under the most trying of times," Trump wrote Sunday morning in a full-throated endorsement of the Likud leader. "Normal men or women in such situations would have wilted under the pressure — But Bibi did not wilt, he actually got stronger, and maintains that same Strength today."

"This is the kind of Partner that the United States of America is demanding of Israel, a Country for which it has done so much," Trump added. "Please let this Letter serve to represent my Complete and Total Endorsement of Bibi Netanyahu in his upcoming Race for Re-election as Prime Minister of Israel."

"If Israel has the wrong leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so," Trump wrote.

"BIBI NETANYAHU WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!" Trump concluded.