https://sagire.online/topic/middle-east/ Rolling analysis and coverage of geopolitics, energy, security and supply chains. en Thu, 05 Nov 2026 02:48:00 -0300 https://sagire.online/wire/baa6709e/https://sagire.online/wire/baa6709e/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 21:21:00 -0300Disagreements inside the United States government over the next steps regarding Iran intensified following the midterm congressional elections, according to the Wall Street Journal, in a text republished by TASS. Some officials are urging Donald Trump to launch new strikes against Iran and then try to secure peace, while others believe he should stop and scale back the military operation; Trump said he would end the war whenever he wants, but that this must be done right.United StatesIranMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/72ad4c27/https://sagire.online/wire/72ad4c27/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 19:23:00 -0300Israeli President Isaac Herzog sent a warning letter last month to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials about a “highly explosive and dangerous reality” in the West Bank and the “moral disgrace” of settler violence, according to the Times of Israel, which says it obtained the letter. The letter was also sent to Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, and says that IDF commanders, police officers and Shin Bet personnel report “limited tools and a shortage of manpower”. Herzog warned that a flare-up on the ground is liable to carry “severe and far-reaching consequences” for Israel's security, its functioning as a sovereign state, its international standing, Diaspora Jewry and the Israeli economy. He called for the perpetrators to be treated as members of a criminal organization and for a plan with a mass deployment of security forces, widespread arrests, administrative detentions and the dismantling of the groups. Settler violence has surged in recent months, with near-daily attacks and harassment and few perpetrators charged or convicted.IsraelWest BankHuman rightsMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/0f93c952/https://sagire.online/wire/0f93c952/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 19:23:00 -0300A Yemeni government military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that 13 military recruits were killed and 65 others wounded in a ballistic missile attack on a military training center in Qatabah district, northern Al-Dhalea, in southern Yemen, during morning exercises, and blamed the attack on the Houthis. A ballistic missile hit Hayfan in Taiz governorate and killed four Yemenis from the same family, including three children, on Wednesday, according to Middle East Eye. Houthi-run al-Masirah TV blamed the killing of three children and a woman, with four other children wounded in the same district, on a Saudi airstrike. On November 3, Yemeni Interior Minister Ibrahim Ali Haidan accused Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of sending military instructors to command Houthi combat operations, develop missile and drone programs and coordinate attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, according to TASS. Hezbollah denied the allegations and said the Yemeni authorities' statements about support for the Houthi offensive, military training and rearmament are “completely baseless”, adding that “the Yemeni people have sufficient capabilities, resources, and experience to defend their country without external support.”YemenHezbollahHouthisConflictMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/a7da80d3/https://sagire.online/wire/a7da80d3/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 18:24:00 -0300Iranian lawmaker Manouchehr Mottaki, a former foreign minister and member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said that the chamber would vote unanimously to reconsider Iran’s continued membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the supreme leader asked, according to the Mehr news agency. Mottaki said lawmakers receive around 200 text messages a day urging withdrawal and that he believes the time has come to discuss leaving the treaty, stressing that the decision rests with the supreme leader. The Paydari Front, led by former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, issued a statement calling for Iran’s withdrawal from the treaty, arguing that recent wars show the country needs nuclear weapons for deterrence. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said on October 31 that Iran’s future as a party to the treaty was uncertain. On November 1, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated that Iran is a member of the NPT and upholds its commitments under the treaty.IranNuclearMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/7298c167/https://sagire.online/wire/7298c167/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 14:22:00 -0300Two explosive drones hit a Komala base in the Alana valley of Balisan, approximately 90 kilometers northeast of Erbil, at around 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday, according to Rudaw. Komala said the attack caused material damage but no casualties, and that Iran has carried out more than 1,000 attacks on the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq, using drones and missiles. In a separate incident, a strike damaged a house in Tawella, in Halabja province, early in the morning on November 3.IranKurdistanDronesMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/d5f368e5/https://sagire.online/wire/d5f368e5/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 10:22:00 -0300Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in Riyadh on an official visit on Wednesday and met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Al-Yamamah Palace, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). Ministers and senior officials from both countries attended the meeting. It is al-Sharaa’s sixth visit to Saudi Arabia since taking office in January 2025. The talks addressed bilateral relations and ways to develop and strengthen cooperation between the two countries in various fields.SyriaSaudi ArabiaDiplomacyMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/b7c4fc25/https://sagire.online/wire/b7c4fc25/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 10:22:00 -0300Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said Resistance Front commanders had received the message of borderless confrontation with the enemy and put it into practice. According to him, Resistance Front fighters demonstrated the unity of the various fronts by issuing a written declaration of full allegiance, referring to a recent message from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on confronting the enemy without geographical boundaries.IranMiddle EastConflict https://sagire.online/wire/1bb491a8/https://sagire.online/wire/1bb491a8/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 06:22:00 -0300The Houthi siege on Taiz has now lasted 30 days and has affected the 1.5 million people living in Taiz City, plus about 180,000 displaced people trapped by ongoing clashes along the main road connecting Lahj and Taiz, according to Al Jazeera. The blockade began with the seizure of al-Turbah, a town in the far southwest of the governorate, cutting the city’s main artery to Aden and the outside world. The United Nations (UN) has repeatedly warned of a catastrophe inside the city, where supplies of food and medicine are becoming increasingly scarce. According to Reuters, in a report republished by The Jerusalem Post, the advance brings the Houthis closer to Aden than at any point since the early months of the war in 2015.YemenHouthisMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/5a3ba5b9/https://sagire.online/wire/5a3ba5b9/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 05:24:00 -0300A poll by the Doha-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and the Arab Center for Contemporary Syria Studies found that 61 percent of respondents named Israel as the main threat to Syria, against 20 percent who named Iran, 6 percent Turkey and 5 percent the United States; the results were published on Monday. Some 97 percent said Israel threatens the security and stability of the Middle East, up from 78 percent a year earlier. Almost 80 percent oppose recognizing Israel, up from 74 percent in 2025, and 74 percent oppose any agreement that does not return the occupied Golan Heights. On the US-Israel war on Iran, 80 percent said Iranian missile strikes on Israel were justified, and three-quarters said Washington had waged the war on Israel's behalf.SyriaIsraelIranMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/1a005f1a/https://sagire.online/wire/1a005f1a/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 01:20:00 -0300Donald Trump told Fox News that he made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the $4 billion in annual aid to Israel, aid appropriated by Congress that he cannot end unilaterally, according to the broadcaster’s White House correspondent, saying that it was Netanyahu who proposed ending the aid, under the current agreement of $38 billion in military aid over ten years, through 2028, which surprised Israeli defense sources. Neither Netanyahu’s office nor Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the move, and the US Department of State did not respond to Al Jazeera.United StatesIsraelMiddle EastDefense https://sagire.online/wire/70be2468/https://sagire.online/wire/70be2468/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:22:00 -0300The Saudi-led coalition launched four air strikes on the city of al-Bayda in central Yemen, according to Houthi-affiliated media. Shelling was also reported in the Ghamr district of the Saada governorate.YemenSaudi ArabiaHouthisConflictMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/3b5a18be/https://sagire.online/wire/3b5a18be/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 20:21:00 -0300Israel provided the United States with intelligence indicating that Iran is considering using chemical weapons against its adversaries, The New York Times reported, citing American and regional officials. Some senior U.S. officials received the intelligence with concern, while others expressed deep skepticism, viewing it as part of a pressure campaign by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to resume large-scale fighting. Gulf officials questioned the Israeli assessments and said Israel had presented no evidence that Iran is making its chemical arsenal operational. Israel’s Home Front Command did not include chemical-weapons scenarios in this week’s exercises nor distribute protective guidance, and the Israeli military declined to comment. Tehran denies possessing chemical weapons and calls the accusations psychological warfare by Israel and Netanyahu.IsraelIranChemical weaponsMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/8fdecbdb/https://sagire.online/wire/8fdecbdb/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 14:22:00 -0300Israel has shared with the United States intelligence asserting that Iran is considering the use of chemical weapons against its adversaries, information met with alarm by some American officials, according to The New York Times. According to JFeed, which reports the contents of the article, some US officials expressed deep skepticism about the information’s credibility, and some compared it to the flawed 2002 intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Some American and Gulf officials suggested that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be trying to draw President Donald Trump back into military action against Iran. According to the newspaper, Trump said he would not order an attack before Tuesday’s midterm elections.IsraelIranUnited StatesChemical weaponsMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/b8dffa00/https://sagire.online/wire/b8dffa00/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 11:24:00 -0300Israeli forces prevented all cooking gas shipments from entering the Gaza Strip on Sunday and sent the trucks back empty, according to the Palestinian outlet Palinfo. Gaza’s General Petroleum Authority said no cooking gas entered the territory throughout the day and that the trucks were sent back without delivering their supplies. On Tuesday, Israeli forces blocked the entry of commercial goods and humanitarian aid from Egypt through the Rafah crossing, cutting off a route that accounts for nearly one-fifth of the goods entering the besieged territory each day. Even when deliveries are permitted, the territory receives only four or five trucks of cooking gas per day, far below the more than 20 needed to meet daily demand.GazaIsraelMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/5e9fd72d/https://sagire.online/wire/5e9fd72d/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 06:23:00 -0300A billboard towering over the busy Enghelab Square in Tehran reads “We will kill Trump”, depicting the US president behind bars with his head bowed. Another billboard nearby shows Trump alongside Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with bloodied faces and ragged suits against the background of worn-out Israeli and US flags. Since the war began on February 28, when US and Israeli strikes killed the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, new designs of billboards mocking Trump and vowing revenge have frequently been set up around Tehran.IranUnited StatesIsraelMiddle East