Iran bars US Navy from Gulf as oil tops $117

Iran’s armed forces declared on Saturday that the United States Navy is banned from re-entering Iranian territorial waters or the surrounding area. The announcement came as President Donald Trump told supporters in Florida that the US military “may do another Epic Fury,” referencing the massive bombing campaign that opened the current conflict. Brent crude oil prices climbed to approximately $117 per barrel, the highest point since April, amid fears of renewed fighting.

Ali Abdollahi, chief of general staff for Iran’s armed forces, issued the statement via state media. He argued that Iran can target any vessel in the region, making US naval entry a risk. “The US president can only dream of their soldiers and military again entering the Persian Gulf,” Abdollahi said. He criticized American rhetoric as contradictory, noting that while Washington claims to have largely destroyed Iranian capabilities, it has refused to move aircraft carriers and support ships closer to Iranian territory.

Abdollahi stated that Iranian forces intend to “drown” the US and Israel in a “quagmire” in response to the surprise attack on February 28 that began the eight-month war. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reported that seven tankers were attacked or hit mines overnight into Thursday. The group claimed on Friday that two supertankers also struck mines, noting its doctrine has shifted toward more offensive actions.

Conflict has expanded across the region. The Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen struck Riyadh on Saturday, following recent attacks on Dammam’s international airport and the Shaybah oilfield. Saudi forces have bombed Houthi-held areas in Marib and Taiz. In southern Lebanon, Israeli air strikes hit areas around Nabatieh, and artillery fired near Zawtar ash-Sharqiyah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a lockdown of the occupied West Bank after a Palestinian attack killed two soldiers in Hebron ahead of an election on October 27.

Washington has reportedly ordered many diplomatic staff to leave Saudi Arabia, with others scheduled to depart other countries in the region. Iranian state-linked media claim Tehran has activated a “dead hand” doctrine. This plan would allow attacks on US, Israeli, and regional interests to continue from all 31 provinces if senior leaders are assassinated again. The IRGC also threatened seabed internet and communication cables if civilian infrastructure is targeted again.

Diplomatic efforts have stalled. Senior diplomats from Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Egypt met counterparts from the UK, France, Germany, and Italy in Istanbul on Friday without the US or Iran present. Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said a new attack “would widen the war and spread the conflict across the region.” He added that “no one is endorsing it at this point.” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul blamed Iran and the Houthis for instability, while the regional ministers identified “Israeli occupation was the main source of instability.”

The four regional ministers backed the Islamabad memorandum of understanding signed in June and demanded unrestricted passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Nour News, affiliated with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, stated the meeting showed a “gap between diplomatic claims and realities in the field.” Reformist paper Etemad suggested the “zero hour” of another intense round was approaching, while analyst Reza Nasri wrote that Iran “will no longer negotiate under bombardment.”