US-Iran war: Saudi-led coalition strikes 82 Houthi targets after airport attacks, tanker hit off Qatar, Iran-Oman agree Hormuz routes as Brent stays above $100

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Yemen’s Houthis say struck airport in Saudi capital

Yemen’s Houthis said Thursday that they struck the Saudi capital’s main international airport with a ballistic missile, in a new attack on the kingdom claimed by the Iran-backed group.

“Our armed forces successfully targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with a ballistic missile, which accurately struck its target and disrupted airport operations,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on X.

Brent hovers above $100 as Hormuz risks collide with supply recovery

Oil markets remained volatile on Thursday (Oct. 8, 2026), with WTI at $88.93 a barrel, up 0.74%, Brent at $100.20, down 0.38%, and Abu Dhabi’s Murban at $106.70, up 0.47%, as of 8.08 am Tokyo time. The mixed performance reflects a market caught between improving Middle East oil flows and persistent security risks around the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent has struggled to fall decisively below $100 despite the recovery in Gulf crude exports: freight rates, war-risk insurance and inefficient alternative shipping routes remain exceptionally expensive. Tanker attacks around Hormuz are also keeping a geopolitical premium embedded in prices.

82 Iran-backed Houthi targets hit in Yemen destroyed, says Saudi-led coalition

The Saudi-led coalition said Wednesday it had destroyed 82 Houthi military targets in four Yemeni provinces following attacks on civilian airports in Saudi Arabia.

Coalition spokesman Major-General Turki Al-Maliki said the operation targeted sites in Saada, Hodeidah, Al-Jawf and Marib, including 11 mountain-based ballistic-missile storage facilities in Saada, as well as command-and-control centres, communications systems, missile and weapons depots and Houthi gathering sites.

Al-Maliki said the strikes followed Houthi attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport, declaring that attacks on civilian sites “will not go unpunished.”

Saudi authorities said the airport attacks killed three people and injured 36. The Houthis claimed responsibility, saying they had targeted the two airports with drones and ballistic missiles.

The latest exchange marks a sharp escalation in fighting as Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces battle to regain territory from the Houthis, amid a wider regional conflict.

التحالف:
دمرنا منصة إطلاق الصواريخ الباليستية المستخدمة في اعتداء الرياض.

— المتحدث الرسمي باسم قوات التحالف (@CJFCSpox) October 7, 2026

Iran, Oman agree on ‘safe’ Hormuz transit routes: Baghaei

Iran and Oman have agreed on the geographical coordinates of designated safe transit routes for ships entering and leaving the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Wednesday.

The two countries also agreed on how the route coordinates will be communicated to the relevant international maritime body, Baghaei said, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.

The agreement builds on a phased Iran-Oman framework for restoring navigation through the strategic waterway. Oman and Iran previously agreed in August to establish a temporary navigational corridor, clear mines and work towards a permanent corridor, with traffic management and information-sharing arrangements.

However, the agreement does not by itself mean Hormuz is fully open or that commercial vessels have an unconditional guarantee of safe passage.

Iran has previously said reopening the waterway depends on wider conditions, while an Iranian official said on October 7 that Tehran planned to close what it considers “illegal routes” near Oman’s coast.

India, Oman discuss Strait of Hormuz and regional security

India and Oman discussed bilateral relations, including political and strategic cooperation, trade and investment, energy, defence and maritime cooperation, and exchanged views on regional security and developments relating to the Strait of Hormuz during the 15th round of the India-Oman Strategic Consultative Group in New Delhi.

The 15th India-Oman Strategic Consultative Group meeting was held in New Delhi today, co-chaired by Secretary (CPV & OIA) Ms. Sripriya Ranganathan and Omani Undersecretary for Political Affairs H.E. Sheikh Khalifa Alharthy @KhalifaAlharthy.
During the meeting, all aspects of… pic.twitter.com/fzYmA5byAh

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) October 7, 2026

Tanker off Qatar reports hits from multiple projectiles: maritime agency

A tanker sailing off the north coast of Qatar reported being struck “by multiple projectiles”, causing an unspecified number of casualties, the UKMTO maritime agency said on Wednesday.

The incident took place 51 nautical miles (94 kilometres) off the coast of the tiny Gulf state, the British agency said, adding that authorities were investigating. It did not specify the origin of the ship.

IMF announces policy advisory program for war-ravaged Yemen

The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday it had approved an 18-month program to help war-ravaged Yemen achieve economic stabilization and strengthen its macroeconomic frameworks, even as its civil war rages on.

The IMF’s “Staff-Monitored Program” offers technical assistance but does not have a financial component.

Yemen is among the poorest countries in the world and has been combatting a Houthi rebellion for years, with Saudi Arabia leading an international coalition that has been fighting the Iran-backed group since 2015.

The war has caused a humanitarian crisis that has left most of the population dependent on aid to survive.

Pentagon chief visits carrier returning from tough Iran war deployment

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday hailed the USS Abraham Lincoln’s crew while visiting the ship as it returned from a lengthy, difficult Iran war deployment in which multiple service members in the carrier strike group attempted suicide.

The massive nuclear-powered warship left California in November 2025 for duty in the South China Sea and was rerouted to the Middle East before US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began in late February, staying at sea until a Thailand port call in early September.

“What the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group did, no other carrier strike group has ever done,” Hegseth said in remarks to service members on the ship while it was at sea in the Pacific.

“Ten thousand sorties, 23,000 combat flight hours, almost 4,000 combat sorties,” he said, later announcing the award of a presidential unit citation to the strike group for “extraordinary heroism against enemy forces.”

UN peacekeeping force says shots fired at post on Israel-Lebanon border

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said one of its posts was targeted on Wednesday near the border with Israel by small-arms fire, but there were no casualties.

“This morning, several rounds of small arms fire impacted a UNIFIL position near Kfar Shouba along the Blue Line in Sector East,” the UN force said in a statement, referring to the de facto border between Israel and Lebanon.

The blue helmets described the shooting as “unacceptable”.

“Such deliberate attacks gravely endanger the lives of peacekeepers,” it said, adding that it was investigating the incident.

Saudi Arabia confirms airports attacked

Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation says the airports of Abha and Riyadh were attacked on Tuesday and Wednesday

Two residents, an Algerian and a Moroccan, were killed in the attack on the airport of Abha, the civil aviation said, adding that 28 residents and citizens were injured.

A Sudanese resident was killed in the attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, it added.

Read the full report here.