Iraqi security forces are guarding the convoys of international coalition troops pulling out of the Kurdistan region, an Iraqi security source told Al Hadath.

The IRGC claims a third U.S. MQ-1 drone was shot down today over the Strait of Hormuz.

Israel and Saudi Arabia are in contact through CENTCOM over intelligence assistance against the Houthis, regional diplomatic sources confirmed to Channel 12.

Crude loadings at Yanbu, Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port, have stopped. The kingdom shut its East-West pipeline days earlier after a Houthi attack, shipping industry sources told Reuters.

A Houthi military official denies Yemen poses any threat to Mecca or other Islamic holy cities, condemning what he called Saudi "falsification and deception" in claiming otherwise.

Lebanon is lobbying the UN Security Council for a new multinational buffer force in the south after UNIFIL ends.

Jerusalem Post.

Yemen has Afghanistan vibes

Unconfirmed report: Suspected Islamic State hideouts in the Syrian desert were hit this afternoon by U.S. Air Force A-10s. First known strikes in months.

Footage of the supertanker El Gaia have been released by Iranian media. It claimed the vessel reportedly ran into an incident while trying to cross a restricted zone south of the Strait of Hormuz.

The IRGC Navy claims the strait is closed and under its control, warning that ships using unsafe routes would face "incidents."

6 ballistic missile launchers and a UAV launch platform spotted in a tunnel in Lorestan Province, Iran.

@hey_itsmyturn

Tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz are now running in daylight, a U.S. official told Axios. Escorted crossings by the U.S. military and Gulf states had been kept mostly to night hours until now.

An Islamic Jihad rocket squad commander was killed in Khan Younis over the weekend, per the IDF. Mohsen Farid Said Abu Hadaf crossed into Israel on October 7 and raided the Kissufim area.

Germany’s Chancellor Merz on Iran:

Iran must finally end this blockade. Above all, it must end its military nuclear program.

Tehran’s support for proxies throughout the region must stop. We see the consequences every day.

We also call on Iran not to carry the conflict further into Iraq.

A private retreat in Germany last week brought together senior military commanders from the U.S., Israel and several Arab countries to discuss the Iran war and regional tensions. Adm. Brad Cooper, the CENTCOM commander, organized it. No participating country made it public, per two Israeli officials speaking to Axios.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

Fiction: Iran is defenseless.

Fact: 100s of U.S. military sites blown to pieces; dozens of aircraft scorched. (Source: The Pentagon)

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

We'll reveal it all in due course.

For those who've sold lies about Iran, it won't be pretty.

Trump's name must stay off the Kennedy Center, a U.S. judge ruled.

Iraqi PM al-Zaidi: "Until now, Iraq has been dependent on a single strait."

He wants export routes split between Türkiye, Syria and the Mediterranean, with the oil sold to Europe and the U.S.

Iraqi PM al-Zaidi was asked about the strike in Saudi Arabia.

Investigations are still running. A joint commission between Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been formed, and the results are currently being analyzed.

"We do not want to prejudge anything because we first need reliable findings."

Once those findings are in, he said they will be presented together with the Iranians.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Yemen:

"The Houthis now control strategic positions around Bab al-Mandab. They are attacking energy facilities in Saudi Arabia.

This is further worsening the situation on the energy markets, and Germany is also feeling the effects.

The international community cannot allow the Houthis to take shipping in the Red Sea hostage."

A drone crashed near Steinhuder Meer in Germany, about a kilometer from the Wunstorf Bundeswehr air base. Police are searching for further debris. No known threat to the public, and no one knows who the drone belongs to.

BILD

Panama, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia will receive $52 million in U.S. military aid pulled from Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia and Iraq under a Trump administration shift.

Counter narcotics work, security for the Panama Canal, and blocking strategic rivals in the Western Hemisphere are the stated purposes, per the State Department.

AP