https://sagire.online/topic/the-gulf/ Rolling analysis and coverage of geopolitics, energy, security and supply chains. en Thu, 05 Nov 2026 02:48:00 -0300 https://sagire.online/wire/cc54c22d/https://sagire.online/wire/cc54c22d/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 00:21:00 -0300The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Thursday that two oil tankers and a tugboat had caught fire in separate incidents after attempting to use unauthorized routes through the Strait of Hormuz, in a Reuters text republished by Internazionale. According to the IRGC, one tanker struck a mine while attempting to cross a passage south of the strait, while a supertanker caught fire while exiting the route in the eastern part of the waterway. A tugboat that approached the second vessel to help extinguish the fire also caught fire.IranStrait of HormuzThe GulfOilConflict https://sagire.online/wire/43fb7eb5/https://sagire.online/wire/43fb7eb5/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 23:22:00 -0300Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman witnessed the signing of several agreements, including a defense cooperation deal and more than US$ 403 million in loans for Syria’s energy, housing, health and infrastructure sectors. The two countries’ defense ministries signed the agreement on Wednesday, according to the official Saudi agency. The Saudi Fund for Development loans include US$ 100 million to rebuild and equip damaged healthcare facilities, US$ 60 million to repair damaged housing, US$ 105 million to strengthen civil defense, US$ 90 million to rehabilitate the Aleppo thermal power plant and US$ 30 million for drinking water systems in Damascus and Idlib. The defense agreement came days after Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said his government was weighing whether to join a mutual defense pact among Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan.SyriaSaudi ArabiaDefenseThe Gulf https://sagire.online/wire/79253343/https://sagire.online/wire/79253343/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 20:22:00 -0300Sub-Saharan Africa's liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports are set to grow nearly 175% to 98 billion cubic meters in 2034 from 35.7 billion in 2024, according to Fitch, as buyers flee the Strait of Hormuz. The African Energy Chamber projects about US$ 40 billion a year in exploration and production investment through 2030, lifting the continent's hydrocarbon output to 12.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. In Mozambique, TotalEnergies' US$ 20 billion LNG project, with capacity of 13.1 million tonnes per year, resumed construction in January after the end of a four-and-a-half-year force majeure and is about 45% complete.MozambiqueAfricaEnergyStrait of HormuzThe Gulf https://sagire.online/wire/17dc9df1/https://sagire.online/wire/17dc9df1/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 20:22:00 -0300The Cheonghae unit, currently in the Gulf of Aden, will have its area of operation extended northeast to waters south of Oman, in the Arabian Sea, officials told The Korea Herald, roughly doubling its radius to about 1,930 kilometers. The expansion adds 75 troops to the unit, bringing its strength to 395. A Defense Ministry official said operations will stay limited to open waters south of Oman and that the P-8A maritime patrol aircraft will be barred from watching Iranian territory or waters or the interior of the Strait of Hormuz. The government plans to send the revised mandate motion to the National Assembly after Cabinet endorsement next week, and South Korean law requires parliamentary consent to expand overseas missions.South KoreaStrait of HormuzThe GulfDefense https://sagire.online/wire/c873cdb9/https://sagire.online/wire/c873cdb9/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 20:21:00 -0300Brent fell US$ 8.94, or 8.6%, to US$ 94.66 per barrel on Wednesday, after touching its lowest level since September 4, with traders pricing an end to the war against Iran, according to OilPrice. WTI dropped US$ 8.01, or 8.3%, to US$ 88.08, while Brent traded near US$ 118 on Friday. Gulf exports of crude and products averaged 17.1 million barrels per day in October, down from 18.9 million in September, roughly three-quarters of the pre-war level, according to Vortexa. The US Department of Energy announced the loan of 300,000 barrels from the Northeast home heating oil reserve to four companies, nearly a third of the stockpile, and heating oil futures fell about 7%.United StatesOilEnergyThe Gulf https://sagire.online/wire/602612f5/https://sagire.online/wire/602612f5/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 18:24:00 -0300Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said that three oil tankers struck naval mines and caught fire while navigating “unauthorized” routes through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Tasnim news agency, which cited a statement from the force’s public relations office. According to the statement, the explosions occurred in the early hours of Tuesday and the ships, abandoned near the southern shores of the strait, remained engulfed in flames that illuminated the eastern section through the night. The Guard warned that ships disregarding the rules and cooperating with the US military to cross unauthorized routes could face similar incidents. On Monday, Iran’s Navy had already announced that an oil tanker had struck a mine and caught fire in an area described as prohibited and unsafe east of the strait.IranStrait of HormuzThe GulfOil https://sagire.online/wire/ced3a67a/https://sagire.online/wire/ced3a67a/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 18:23:00 -0300QatarEnergy signed a 20-year agreement to buy 3 million metric tons per year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Woodside Energy’s facilities in Louisiana and, a week earlier, struck deals with Cheniere for up to 4 million tons per year through 2054, according to Reuters, in a text republished by gCaptain. Deliveries under the contracts begin in 2030 and 2031 and will make Qatar the largest buyer of US LNG. Unlike its neighbors, the small Gulf state has no viable route for exporting LNG other than the Strait of Hormuz. QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi told Reuters he expects to sign additional supply agreements with US and other producers this year. The company declared force majeure on LNG supplies in March, after the war with Iran led to the blockade of Hormuz and attacks on its Ras Laffan facilities; the measure runs through December.QatarEnergyThe GulfStrait of Hormuz https://sagire.online/wire/8a7823ac/https://sagire.online/wire/8a7823ac/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 17:25:00 -0300Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday with a delegation including the foreign, defense, finance and industry ministers and the head of the General Intelligence Directorate, on his second visit to the kingdom in weeks, after a trip to Riyadh on October 6. He and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman witnessed the signing of agreements covering military cooperation, energy and infrastructure, and the Syrian Foreign Ministry said the defense agreement was the most notable but gave no details. The package included a cooperation agreement between the two countries’ defense ministries. Syria is in negotiations to join the Makkah defense pact, and Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani said at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain that Damascus considers “security in the Gulf as part of its own.”SyriaSaudi ArabiaThe GulfDefense https://sagire.online/wire/3a1361a3/https://sagire.online/wire/3a1361a3/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 16:23:00 -0300Major General Esmaeil Ghaani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, said that resistance forces have formed a united front against the aggressors, namely the United States and the Zionist regime in the region. “Otherwise, you will end up fighting a war with weapons in the Strait of Hormuz while facing the opening of the Bab el-Mandeb by the Resistance,” he said. According to Ghaani, US President Donald Trump gambled on war with Iran after being misled by Netanyahu, and the outcome was the loss of America’s 250-year reputation and its defeat in the Strait of Hormuz.IranStrait of HormuzThe Gulf https://sagire.online/wire/7413dfc3/https://sagire.online/wire/7413dfc3/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 13:22:00 -0300The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delivered four trucks of essential medical supplies to hospitals in Taiz, including surgical kits to treat weapon-wounded patients, in the committee's first delivery of medical supplies to the city since September 23. The Houthis have encircled Taiz since early October and are blocking the road linking the city to Aden, the interim seat of the internationally recognized government. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said roads are closed, water production has halved and food prices have risen by at least 50%.YemenThe GulfHouthisHealth https://sagire.online/wire/d9e7afc1/https://sagire.online/wire/d9e7afc1/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 09:21:00 -0300Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said four oil tankers caught fire after hitting naval sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz. According to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the IRGC said two of the vessels were still burning and that two additional tankers were intercepted trying to use a prohibited southern route in the strait. BBC Verify investigated the claims and has not found any evidence that four tankers were destroyed. In a separate incident, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said a tanker was struck by two unknown projectiles about 14 nautical miles (26 km) northeast of Limah, in Oman’s Musandam peninsula, on Tuesday evening, with no casualties reported. The IRGC also said it had shot down another US MQ-9 drone over the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas shipments usually pass, has been effectively closed since the start of the Iran war, because of Iranian attacks on commercial vessels and the US naval blockade.IranStrait of HormuzOilThe GulfDrones https://sagire.online/wire/7fbc822f/https://sagire.online/wire/7fbc822f/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 03:20:00 -0300Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says that four oil tankers were destroyed after hitting naval sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz, with two still burning and two additional vessels seized for trying to use a prohibited southern route. Trump confirmed that the US struck Iran on Tuesday targeting an anti-aircraft facility, an attack US officials described as limited and defensive, in response to IRGC fire on a US aircraft; the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported projectiles in a tanker’s engine room off Limah, Oman, with no casualties, and the IRGC account could not be independently verified or linked to that incident.IranUnited StatesStrait of HormuzThe GulfOil https://sagire.online/wire/407d2c5e/https://sagire.online/wire/407d2c5e/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:21:00 -0300The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, said that the US response to Iran’s seven conditions was not convincing and that the Strait of Hormuz will only reopen if Washington fully meets the demands. The indirect talks center on an Iranian proposal to reopen the waterway over two days if the United States meets the seven demands, including the lifting of sanctions and an end to the US naval blockade. Four oil tankers were destroyed after striking naval mines south of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who also said two other vessels were halted. The statement did not identify the vessels, their owners, flags, cargoes or the exact location, and there was no immediate independent confirmation of the attacks. The Guards also said they shot down a US MQ-9 drone over the strait, the 56th by their count, a claim that could not be independently verified. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that two unidentified projectiles struck a tanker’s engine room about 14 nautical miles northeast of Oman’s coastal village of Limah, with no casualties reported. US media, citing US officials, reported that Central Command had prepared plans for strikes that could begin as early as Wednesday, after the midterm elections, when three American aircraft carriers would be in the region.IranUnited StatesStrait of HormuzThe GulfEnergy https://sagire.online/wire/4ff137af/https://sagire.online/wire/4ff137af/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 20:21:00 -0300Donald Trump said in an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday that the United States has no immediate plan to renew strikes against Iran. Trump said the U.S. military is “locked and loaded” if strikes are necessary, but noted that there may be no reason to reignite military action. On indirect negotiations with Tehran, Trump claimed — “We seem to be getting everything we want.” The interview came in the same window in which The New York Times reported, according to The Jerusalem Post, a Central Command (CENTCOM) plan to attack Iran as early as November 4, with three aircraft carriers in the region. Trump has not yet approved a large-scale attack, and diplomatic contacts between Washington and Tehran continue.United StatesIranThe Gulf https://sagire.online/wire/3fa546ed/https://sagire.online/wire/3fa546ed/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 20:21:00 -0300Qatar says it is working toward an interim deal between the United States and Iran to prevent renewed fighting, as diplomats try to bridge differences between the two sides. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said on Tuesday that both countries remained committed to negotiations and were reviewing proposals from mediators, including Qatar. Al-Ansari warned that further escalation could complicate negotiations, after fresh U.S. strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island on Tuesday.QatarUnited StatesIranThe GulfDiplomacy