Президенту готовятся военные решения для Ирана, поскольку приближаются промежуточные выборы: официальные лица

Yemen’s armed forces said Thursday they were treating reports that Houthi militants had fired shells containing suspected toxic substances in Taiz with the utmost seriousness.

The alleged attack reportedly caused civilians and Popular Resistance fighters to experience suffocation and fainting.

“The Armed Forces are taking reports seriously regarding the use of poisonous gases by the terrorist Houthi militia in Taiz,” the official military spokesperson said, calling for an investigation.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Michael Waltz warned against Iran’s nuclear ambitions Thursday amid mounting concerns over Tehran’s refusal to allow monitoring at its nuclear sites.

“The Iranian regime can point fingers all it wants, but it cannot explain away its failure to cooperate with the UN’s IAEA for inspections,” Waltz said.

“The world needs to hear this loud and clear: The United States and our partners will NEVER allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. Period. End of story,” he added on X.

His remarks came after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said this week that inspectors must be allowed back onto Tehran’s sites to verify its program.

The Yemeni Armed Forces intensified their major military offensive under Operation “Dawn of Yemen” on Thursday, carrying out hundreds of precision strikes over the previous 24 hours.

“These operations struck reinforcements of the terrorist Houthi militia, their advanced command and control centers, their field commanders, their sniper positions, their sources of fire, and their supply means,” Al-Nuzaili said on X.

Al-Nuzaili said the operations neutralized 324 militia commanders and fighters and destroyed or disabled 108 vehicles and military equipment.

A Saudi citizen was wounded in Riyadh on Thursday by falling shrapnel after air defenses shot down two ballistic missiles launched by Houthi forces, according to Saudi Civil Defense authorities.

A spokesperson told the state-run news agency that the debris also caused damage to a home and a vehicle.

The Saudi-led coalition had earlier announced on X that it successfully intercepted and destroyed both incoming missiles targeting the capital.

Sen. Chris Murphy, warned Thursday that a potential U.S. military plan to resume operations against Iran could trigger a devastating escalation of the conflict and threaten American national security interests.

“In one of these briefings we did get the chance to have a fairly detailed conversation about what the war plan would be if we restarted military operations,” Murphy said during an event at the Middle East Institute.

“You’ve heard a preview that it would be a short duration plan,” he said. “I will just say this: Their plan is insane.”

Murphy also warned that the plan could lead to “devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the rule of law.”

“I mean, there’s been open reporting as to, you know, what we may be planning and the civilian infrastructure that we may be targeting,” Murphy said.

“I think the plan, the plan that they have, they have certainly been asked by the president to develop a plan,” he continued.

“Whether they believe it will work or not, I do not know, but the plan that they have developed will lead, in my view, to a prolongment and an escalation of this war that will be devastating for our security interests,” Murphy said.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged European Union member states on Thursday to increase their naval deployments in the Red Sea, warning that Houthi strikes continue to jeopardize shipping.

“My argument is simple: the European Union has an interest in having a concrete presence with hard assets in this part of the world, and we need more countries to participate in Aspides,” he told Reuters.

The EU established Operation Aspides in 2024 to safeguard merchant vessels traveling through the key shipping corridor.

Greece, Italy and France have also supplied warships to the mission, but Mitsotakis stressed that resources are “clearly not enough.”

An Israeli soldier was charged with passing military information to Iranian intelligence agents in exchange for cryptocurrency, Iran International reported Thursday citing Israeli security officials.

The soldier, who was arrested in September after an investigation maintained contact with Iranian operatives for roughly a year.

Authorities said the soldier provided information on military bases, troop readiness, and call-ups, including details of his own mobilization at the outbreak of the war with Iran in February.

Prosecutors alleged he photographed missile interceptors, military vehicles, and U.S. refueling aircraft at an Israeli airport, while also sharing details about fellow soldiers and commanders despite knowing Iranian handlers could target them for recruitment.

The soldier was also allegedly offered $200,000 to travel to Iran and instructed to install encrypted messaging apps.

Military prosecutors formally charged him with contacting a foreign agent and passing information to the enemy with the intent to harm national security, the outlet said.

U.S. energy giants ExxonMobil and Chevron pulled their top executives from next week’s flagship ADIPEC conference in Abu Dhabi, citing security concerns, Reuters reported Thursday.

Exxon Chief Executive Darren Woods and Chevron Upstream President Clay Neff were both set to attend the Middle East’s premier oil and gas summit before the cancellations, the outlet said.

The State Department also last week ordered some diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia, which has been facing nearby Houthi strikes.

A tanker was struck by an unknown projectile while exiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

“A Company Security Officer has informed UKMTO that their tanker has been struck by an unknown projectile whilst completing an outbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz,” UKMTO said in a statement.

The maritime authority also said there were no reported injuries to the crew or reports of environmental damage.

“Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO, whilst authorities investigate,” UKMTO added.

Saudi air defense forces shot down two missiles fired toward Riyadh on Thursday by the Houthis, a coalition spokesman said.

“Air defenses intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards Riyadh,” Col. Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said in a post on X.

Earlier, civil defense authorities issued alerts warning of potential danger in Riyadh, Al Kharj and Najran, according to Reuters.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Thursday rejected Washington’s diplomatic strategy and drew a firm line on negotiations, saying any agreement to end the war would need acceptance of Tehran’s seven conditions.

“Iran’s conditions have been repeatedly and clearly stated to the mediators,” Ghalibaf said on X.

“The carrot-and-stick approach has no effect on Iran. Progress can only be achieved once Iran’s seven conditions have been agreed upon,” he added.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Thursday that it would be “insane” for the Trump administration to resume the war against Iran after Election Day. 

“Trump is reportedly planning to restart war with Iran after the election,” Murphy wrote on X. “Some of us have been briefed on the war plan. And while I cannot disclose any details, I can say this: the plan is insane. It will not achieve objectives and will set off a new cycle of escalation.” 

Murphy shared a clip of him speaking Wednesday at The Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., where he said a resumption of U.S. military action against Iran “would lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction to our commitment to the rule of law.”

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) said Thursday that a ship previously spotted “on fire” in the Strait of Hormuz has sunk. 

The incident was reported about nine nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman.  

“Regional authorities have identified the vessel as a dhow, which was involved in a maritime security incident, igniting a large fire onboard causing the dhow to list and sink,” the UKMTO said in a post on X. 

“Local authorities have confirmed that the crew have been safely evacuated,” it added. 

The Iranian regime has used a vast financial and military network to import at least $2 billion in hardware, explosives and trucks around the U.S. naval blockade and sanctions since the beginning of last year, according to a Reuters investigation. 

The news agency reported Thursday that more than 5,000 agencies form the network, which has helped Tehran acquire weapons components involved in the creation of missiles and drones, and heavy-duty trucks that can serve as missile launchers, among other materials. 

Reuters said it based its investigation on Iranian bank and government records, corporate filings and import data. Some of the agencies, it added, are linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and they operate through frontmen and foreign shell companies, who purchase items for Iran using profits from illicit oil sales. 

The material flows into Iran by cargo ship across the Caspian Sea from Russia, by trucks from Central Asia and planes from China, Reuters also reported. 

A Treasury Department spokeswoman told Reuters that the U.S. “has severed the regime’s economic lifelines.” 

“While the regime may continue its desperate attempts to evade our powerful sanctions, fund its military and weapons programs, and access foreign currency, we are always 10 steps ahead,” she reportedly added. 

President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, one of the Pentagon’s senior strategic planners who was fired by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth over allegations of leaking classified information to journalists, is going to have “big problems.”

Trump told reporters ahead of his departure to a midterms rally in South Carolina that his administration is “very much looking for leakers.” 

A Department of War official told Fox News that Sylvia leaked classified information to journalists about the Iran war, Russia’s war in Ukraine and other sensitive matters.

The official added that Sylvia failed three polygraph examinations related to alleged disclosures of classified information. The investigation has been referred to the Justice Department. 

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin and Morgan Phillips contributed to this post.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Thursday that the United Kingdom is “doing everything we can” to get the Strait of Hormuz opened during the U.S.-Iran War. 

“We are doing everything that we can to de-escalate the situation, to support the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz,” Burnham said, noting that he raised the issue with President Donald Trump last week, according to Reuters. 

“But, of course, it’s without any nuclear capability in Iran,” Burnham reportedly added. 

The remarks come as U.S. Central Command is enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports in the region. 

“More than 3,000 commercial vessels have successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz with support from CENTCOM forces over the last six months,” CENTCOM said earlier this week. 

U.S. Central Command pushed back Thursday after Iran claimed it captured an American surveillance drone near the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian state television reported Thursday that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in an “electronic warfare operation,” detected and identified the MQM-170 Outlaw drone, and took control of its control systems before landing it in Iranian territory, according to The Associated Press.

It did not say when the drone was allegedly seized.

“In the past weeks and months, the IRGC has repeatedly lied out of desperation, and today is no different,” U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, CENTCOM’s spokesperson, told the AP.

The Associated Press contributed to this post.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) said Thursday that a ship was spotted “on fire” in the Strait of Hormuz. 

The incident was reported about nine nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman. 

“The Master of a third-party vessel has reported sighting another vessel on fire,” the UKMTO said. 

“Status of crew is unknown,” it added. “There is no damage assessment or environmental impact report at present.” 

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth fired Army Lt. Gen Brett Sylvia, a key war planner in the Pentagon, alleging that Sylvia met with journalists to leak classified information, the Department of War said.

A Department of War official said Sylvia, despite having the title of Directorate for Strategy, Plans, and Policy at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, otherwise known in the military as the J5, was not a central planner for Operation Epic Fury against Iran, a campaign that is under the responsibility of U.S. Central Command and its leader, Navy Adm. Brad Cooper. 

Sylvia is being investigated for leaking classified information about the Iran war, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and more, the official told Fox News.  

The official alleged Sylvia started meeting with journalists outside the Pentagon to leak classified information because of a Pentagon media policy mandating that journalists have escorts while inside the building. 

The official also said the investigation into Sylvia remains active and has been referred to the Department of Justice, noting Hegseth took immediate action and fire Sylvia in order to protect national security. 

The Atlantic first reported the firing and said Sylvia did not respond to a request for comment.

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin contributed to this post.