The Saudi-led coalition said on Friday it intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
A coalition spokesperson, Maj Gen Turki al-Malki, said the drone was intercepted in the region surrounding Mecca, Islam’s holiest city and a destination for millions of Muslim pilgrims each year.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree denied carrying out any operations targeting Mecca, saying in a statement that the group’s military operations are aimed at Saudi oil facilities and military bases.
Saudi Arabia has previously reported intercepting missiles and drones headed toward Mecca and Medina. The Houthis have repeatedly denied targeting either city. Meanwhile, Iran state media said Friday that Qatari mediators have returned to Iran for talks with officials, in the latest diplomatic push to try to broker an end to the war with the United States and Israel.
The IRNA state news agency said the Qatari delegation was headed by the country’s foreign minister and senior adviser to the prime minister. IRNA said they were meeting with senior Iranian officials but did not specify who.
The visit follows outreach from US Vice President JD Vance, who sent a letter in recent days to Maj Gen Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Tehran on Thursday acknowledged receipt of the letter but said it had not responded and did not detail its contents.US President Donald Trump suggested the letter was not about peace negotiations but instead about possibly allowing humanitarian aid.
Diplomats say US officials have told West Asia countries and regional allies to be prepared for potential renewed military action against Iran after next week’s midterm elections in the United States.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it has stopped two oil tankers attempting to use unauthorized routes through the Strait of Hormuz, the state-run IRNA media reported on Friday.
The Guard’s navy said one tanker was stopped in the eastern part of the strait and the other in the western part. Both had switched off their navigation and positioning systems and were attempting to leave through unauthorized routes with US military support, it said.
The Guard said the vessels ignored repeated radio warnings, but did not specify how they were stopped in the waters along the south side of the strait.
The British military’s Maritime Trade Operations Centre said it had received one report of a vessel on fire in the strait northeast of Oman, and another of an attack on a tanker off the northwest tip of the country.
Iran insists that ships seeking to transit the strait communicate with its authorities and follow a route on the north side of the waterway, near its coast. Ships seeking to avoid Iran have been sticking to the south side of the strait.