Trump says 'unlikely' to attack Iran, Araghchi warns US on talks

Trump has said that he is unlikely to attack Iran as long as talks between the two progress, according to CNN

Trump has said that he is unlikely to attack Iran as long as talks between the two progress, according to CNN

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned that the US has two choices regarding the ongoing tension in the region: accept Iran's two-day proposal or face war

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned that the US has two choices regarding the ongoing tension in the region: accept Iran's two-day proposal or face war

Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry has said that the Aramco building in the capital, Riyadh, has been struck by debris after Houthis fired ballistic missiles at the country

Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry has said that the Aramco building in the capital, Riyadh, has been struck by debris after Houthis fired ballistic missiles at the country

Videos online showed extensive damage to some of the tower's upper floors

Videos online showed extensive damage to some of the tower's upper floors

Israel's former military chief Gadi Eisenkot started the tough task Sunday of forming a government, reaching out to Benjamin Netanyahu's allies as he warned the veteran prime minister had brought the country to a historic crisis

Israel's former military chief Gadi Eisenkot started the tough task Sunday of forming a government, reaching out to Benjamin Netanyahu's allies as he warned the veteran prime minister had brought the country to a historic crisis

President Donald Trump said Sunday that a new task force is in place to disrupt land routes into Iran that the US military says are used for shipments of weapons and illicit materials.

US Central Command on Saturday announced the formation of a 20-member team to expand on a US naval blockade of Iranian ports during the eight-month war.

"Task Force Iron Gate is in full force and effect in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Coupled with history's greatest Naval Blockade, very little gets into, or out of, Iran!" the president posted on his Truth Social platform.

CENTCOM chief Admiral Brad Cooper said in Saturday's statement that the force "will further constrain Iran's ability to finance terrorism, rebuild weapons factories, and replenish their military."

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Washington's latest bid "will fail" and will not bring economic collapse in the Islamic republic.

Production was halted Sunday night at Iraq's Khor Mor gas field, one of the largest in the Kurdistan region, after a drone attack targeted the field, two security sources said.

Smoke was seen rising from the field, the two sources said. An engineer working at the field said a gas storage facility was hit during the attack, with all crew ordered to go into shelters for fear of further attacks.

The major gas field provides supplies for regional power generation. The Kurdistan region's energy ministry said nearly 2.8 gigawatts of power generation was lost from the grid following the attack.

An unidentified drone, likely Iranian, struck the Khor Mor oil and gas field in Iraq's Sulaymaniyah Governorate, in the Kurdistan Region. — OSINTWarfare (@OSINTWarfare) November 8, 2026

An unidentified drone, likely Iranian, struck the Khor Mor oil and gas field in Iraq's Sulaymaniyah Governorate, in the Kurdistan Region.

Iraq has reached understandings with the United States to allow Iraqi oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz via a shipping lane near Oman, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said in an interview with Al Jazeera .

He said Iraq's losses from the Iran war and disruptions to oil exports had reached $60 billion.

Iraq's oil exports recovered in October after a sharp drop the month. Exports rose to 3.5 million barrels per day from 2.65 million bpd in September, according to Iraqi energy officials.

The Iranian news agency IRNA said explosions were heard in Iran's Qeshm Island Sunday evening.

There has been no official Iranian confirmation.

The US Treasury has asked Iraq to close all border crossings with Iran except for two as part of Washington's policy of increasing economic pressure on Tehran, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

One of the exceptions is in the Kurdistan region.

"There are many official and unofficial border crossings with Iran, and closing all of them would be difficult and would affect our economy. The Americans are still demanding the closure of the crossings, and we are currently in discussions with them," Hussein said.

Last month, Iraq closed the busy Sheeb border crossing ​with Iran to review security and install detection ‌equipment to stop smuggling.

The Saudi-led coalition said it had destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in Yemen’s Saada governorate, which it said the Houthis had used in an attack on the capital, Riyadh.

The coalition also announced that it had destroyed a ballistic missile launch platform in Yemen’s Sanaa, saying the Houthis had used it in an attempted attack on Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, the kingdom's economic powerhouse.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that mediators striving for a peace deal between the US and Iran had not travelled at all since the "shock" of the US midterm elections.

"It will take some time before the atmosphere is favourable for the resumption of mediator travel," the top Iranian diplomat said on state TV following the elections in which the Republican party of US President Donald Trump suffered heavy losses.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said he was "highly unlikely" to order fresh attacks on Iran as long as talks to end the conflict progress, CNN said, citing a phone interview it did with Trump.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that, following the midterm elections, the Trump administration has two choices: accept Iran's two-day proposal or face war.

"American voters have made their choice. Time for the White House to make its own," he said in a post on X.

"Our 2-day proposal stands: meet the requirements, including end to war on all fronts, and you will see results. Or choose war, and see our alert and battle-hardened Warriors rain down hell," he added.

American voters have made their choice. Time for the White House to make its own. Our 2-day proposal stands: meet the requirements, including end to war on all fronts, and you will see results. Or choose war, and see our alert and battle-hardened Warriors rain down hell. — Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) November 8, 2026

American voters have made their choice. Time for the White House to make its own. Our 2-day proposal stands: meet the requirements, including end to war on all fronts, and you will see results. Or choose war, and see our alert and battle-hardened Warriors rain down hell.

Gadi Eisenkot, tasked on Sunday with forming a new government, said he was open to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and one of his far-right allies joining, but under him as the new leader.

"If members of Likud and the Religious Zionist Party truly believe this is a time for unity, as they told the president, I cannot conceive of any reason why they would not support a government under my leadership and the principles I have presented," Eisenkot said, referring to Netanyahu's party and that of the far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Israel's president on Sunday officially tasked opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming a new government, warning that the country faces uncertainties after elections in the United States.

"The State of Israel needs a stable government," President Isaac Herzog said, pointing to the "new political reality" in the United States.

Israeli police released Palestinian journalist Abed Abu Shehadeh early on Sunday from the Petah Tikva police centre, while rights groups have denounced his "unlawful" arrest.

A Tel Aviv court had extended his detention until 8 November, in connection with interviews and a podcast he carried out with Dr Azmi Bashara.

The Adalah rights group hailed his release, but said that he should not have been arrested in the first place.

An Adalah spokesperson, Hadeel Abu Salih, told The New Arab that at the only hearing held, there was no evidence disclosed to the defence and all of the material was kept a secret.

"Opening a criminal investigation over a media interview is itself a grave violation of freedom of expression and press freedom. Under Israeli law, there is also a procedural requirement that was not met: opening such an investigation requires prior approval from the state attorney’s office, and that approval was not obtained," she explained.

Israeli police release journalist Abed Abu Shehadeh

Yemen's Houthis on Sunday claimed responsibility for an attack on the financial district of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, that eyewitnesses said caused damage to a skyscraper belonging to oil giant Aramco.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces, with the help of Allah Almighty, carried out four qualitative military operations, using a number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones," the group said in an English-language statement, listing targets including the financial centre, Riyadh airport, Aramco oil storage tanks and the eastern Saudi city of Abqaiq.

Bahrain and Egypt have condemned continued Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, the latest of which damaged Saudi Aramco's tower in Riyadh on Sunday morning.

Bahrain's Foreign Ministry described the attacks as "violations of the kingdom's sovereignty and international law," while Egypt labelled the Houthis firing of ballistic missiles this morning as a "flagrant violation of international law" and "an escalation and a direct threat to civilians".

Yemen's Houthis have said that strikes on the country have killed 72 people across eight provinces, with strikes concentrated in the Bani Hushaish area of the capital Sanaa, according to Al Jazeera .

Israel said on Sunday it had deported 14 Western activists who had gone to the occupied West Bank on solidarity missions with Palestinians facing violence from Israeli settlers.

Israeli authorities arrested them on Friday near Ramallah after an altercation between the activists and settlers, according to the Human Rights Defenders Fund, a group that provides legal support to activists who visit to support Palestinians.

The activists had gone with hopes of protecting Palestinians during their annual olive harvest, which has been hit by a surge of attacks by Israeli settlers who have beaten and stolen from the farmers.

The activists came from the United States, Canada, Italy and Germany, Israel's Population and Immigration Authority said.

Sharona Weiss, the head of international advocacy at the Human Rights Defenders Fund, told AFP that the foreigners had been accompanying Palestinian farmers on their land "when settlers arrived and began attacking them".

Three oil tankers caught fire on Sunday in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran regularly targets ships that transit without its authorisation, the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement.

Since the outbreak of the Iran war in late February, Tehran has severely restricted traffic through the strategic waterway, insisting vessels use routes authorised by the Islamic Republic.

The United States has, in response, imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and helped tankers travel the strait, which normally carries one-fifth of global oil consumption.

"Since the early hours of this morning, three non-compliant tankers have exploded and caught fire while they were sailing in the illegal channel in the Strait of Hormuz," the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the ideological arm of Iran's military, said in a statement.

The Guards did not specify the names or nationality of the tankers.

In the lead-up to this month’s US midterm elections, many forecasters anticipated a blue wave. What ultimately unfolded, however, was a red wipeout, marking a clear repudiation of President Donald Trump’s agenda.

The results reflected a significant rebuke of the administration’s policies, with Democrats making historic gains across the Senate, House of Representatives, and gubernatorial races - even in solidly red states such as Kansas, where they secured victories not seen in many decades. The US-Israeli war on Iran was undoubtedly a major factor in the electoral outcome, particularly as its economic repercussions, including surging energy prices, further strained American households and exacerbated the cost-of-living crisis.

With Democrats now poised to command majorities in both chambers of Congress beginning in January 2027, the implications for US foreign policy need to be unpacked.

How America's midterms signal a turning point in US-Israel ties

Israel is not finished with Iran, its defence minister said Sunday, as he renewed charges that Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons, which the Islamic Republic has long denied.

"With regard to Iran, the mission is still not complete. Iran is trying to renew its efforts to obtain nuclear weapons -- alongside other grave efforts that place the State of Israel in real danger," Defence Minister Israel Katz said at a ceremony.

Palestinian Journalist Abed Abou Shehadeh has been released following his arrest in a raid by police and Shin Bet earlier this week at his in Jaffa, according to Israeli reports.

Abou Shehadeh, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was arrested shortly after returning from Qatar, where he had interviewed former Balad MK Azmi Bishara on the Israeli elections.

You can read The New Arab's reportage on Abou Shehade's arrest below:

Israel's detention of Abou Shhadeh 'a campaign to silence'

The US cannot achieve its goals of blockading Iran's economy and shutting its trade routes because Tehran has made preparations and communicates closely with neighbours, a Revolutionary Guards spokesperson was quoted as saying on Sunday.

Hossein Mohebbi was reacting to the US military's Task Force Iron Gate, launched to help crack down on Tehran's movement of advanced weapons and other sanctioned material over its land borders and through the Caspian Sea.

"The Iron Gate plan is merely a wordplay, the Americans cannot achieve their objectives of imposing severe economic pressure to cause economic collapse in Iran through this approach," Mohebbi told the semi-official Fars news agency .

Iranian authorities executed three men on Sunday after convicting them of carrying out operations on behalf of Israel and the United States during anti-government protests in January, the judiciary said.

The death sentences against Hassan Divband, Hamid Kazemi and Reza Zanganeh "were carried out this morning after being upheld by the Supreme Court", the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported.

It said they were found guilty of "participating in operational activities on behalf of the Israeli Zionist regime, the United States and hostile groups" during the protests.

Mizan said the men threw Molotov cocktails and grenades, used bladed weapons and firearms and set fire to public facilities in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran.

Other defendants in the case received sentences ranging from five to 10 years in prison, it said.

A Saudi Energy Ministry official said on Sunday that an administrative building belonging to state oil giant Saudi Aramco in Riyadh had been targeted in an attempted attack, with falling debris causing limited damage to the building.

The official added that no injuries or fatalities were reported.