“We’ll get to the root of this attacker, whether he had ​accomplices, whether Iran was behind it. I think we’ll find ​out very soon,” Netanyahu said in an interview to Fox ⁠News host Sean Hannity on the network’s “Hannity” program.

Israeli officials said earlier ​that the attacker’s motive aboard flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv ​remained under investigation.

Hannity asked Netanyahu whether there was any indication of Iranian involvement in the incident.

“It’s too early to say, the attacking pilot is … now being investigated ​in Saudi Arabia. I think he’ll be taken to the Emirates, ​where he comes from, or at least where he left, where he flew off ‌from, ⁠and we’ll be following and possibly also participating in this investigation,” Netanyahu said.

Passengers on the flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv reached Israel safely on Wednesday after customers and crew foiled a co-pilot’s ​attempt to crash ​the aircraft, Israeli ⁠officials said, in a struggle that began when he stabbed the pilot and sent the jet plunging ​nearly 14,000 feet (4,267 m) in less than 30 seconds.

Israel-bound flight diverted to Saudi Arabia after brawl between pilots, Israeli official says

Passengers ​and crew ⁠entered the cockpit, overpowered the co-pilot and enabled a second pair of flydubai pilots who were aboard the flight to land the jet safely ⁠in ​Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, according to Israeli officials.

Flydubai ​had said earlier the underlying reasons for the event remained unknown and warned against “premature speculation.”

Parliament held ​its final sitting on September 23 ahead of ​the November 7 vote, with parties focusing ⁠on the cost of living, economic management ​and public services.

A widely watched 1News-Verian poll released this ​week showed a left-leaning coalition likely led by Labour could potentially form a government-winning 65 seats, against 59 ​for the incumbent National, ACT and New ​Zealand First bloc.

India-New Zealand free trade pact to come into force on October 20

New Zealand’s German-style Mixed Member Proportional electoral system has ‌made ⁠coalition governments the norm since it was introduced three decades ago, giving minor parties an outsized role in determining who governs.

Parliament normally has ​120 seats, ​though extra ⁠seats can be added when a party wins more electorate seats than ​its share of the nationwide party ​vote ⁠would otherwise entitle it to.

The decade-old centrist Opportunity Party could emerge as kingmaker at this election, according ⁠to ​some polls.

Overseas voting begins on ​October 21, with advance voting opening on October 26.

The withdrawal of the final troops, mainly from an airbase in Erbil in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, ended the biggest US war of the century, which brought widespread devastation and chaos from which Iraq has yet to fully emerge.

Iran, which has entrenched its influence in Iraq through allied armed groups and is determined to drive all US forces out of the Middle East, views the US pullout as a triumph for its “axis of resistance” of allied armed groups across the region.

Iraqi troops paraded in vehicles through the streets of Baghdad and the holy city of Najaf to mark the pullout.

The withdrawal “fills our hearts with joy,” said Baghdad resident Ahmed Salah, who said he felt reborn at the age of 70. But he also said it was now time for powerful militia groups to surrender their weapons, “and let the government be the one responsible to protect me and you on the ground, sky and water.”

The pullout was agreed in 2024 under President Joe Biden and carried out by Donald Trump’s administration even as it wages war against Iran next door.

US forces invaded to topple Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, triggering years of upheaval and chaos. The Americans initially left at the end of 2011 but came back less than three years later to assist Iraqi forces after Islamic State fighters seized a third of Iraq and imposed violent rule.

President Donald Trump said that the United States leaves Iraq with “wonderful” Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi, saying in a Truth Social post that he would “hopefully be able to handle things very well.”

More than 4,500 US troops died in Iraq, around twice as many as in the parallel war in Afghanistan. The Iraq Body Count project says more than 200,000 Iraqi civilians were killed.

The Pentagon said the United States and its coalition partners formally concluded “Operation Inherent Resolve” and Washington would continue to provide targeted training and intelligence support to Iraqi partners.

The Iraqis are expected to lead the effort to secure the country, an ally of both Washington and Tehran, and keep the remnants of Islamic State suppressed.

“The end of the international coalition’s mission does not mean the end of our battle against terrorism, but rather Iraq’s transition to a phase in which it assumes full responsibility for its security and stability,” said Zaidi in a statement.

‘Security vacuums can be extremely dangerous’

While the departure of US forces is broadly popular among Iraqis, some worry that security forces trained and funded by the United States still can’t protect the country.

“The lesson from the past two decades is that security vacuums can be extremely dangerous,” said Jassim al-Bahadli, an Iraqi analyst who advises the security forces.

Adil Salman, 45, a high school English teacher, said Iraqis “should not rush to celebrate” the withdrawal.

“Militias still operate outside the state’s control and (Islamic State) still has not disappeared,” he said. “I’m concerned that the US departure could lead to a new period of instability. In the end, people will judge this decision by one thing: whether security remains stable in the coming years.”

Hundreds of supporters of pro-Iranian Iraqi groups gathered in Baghdad to celebrate the pullout, chanting “Death to America”.

They carried portraits of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his son Mojtaba, who succeeded him, and top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike on his convoy in Baghdad in 2020.

With US forces present alongside armed groups allied to Iran, Iraq has been caught up in this year’s war.

Of the 18 US service members listed as killed since Trump launched “Operation Epic Fury” alongside Israel in February, seven died in Iraq. The last was an army sergeant who died during the controlled detonation of a drone at a base near Erbil in July.

The withdrawal raises “the possibility that Iran’s proxies will feel increasingly empowered in the absence of a Western military presence. These groups may attempt to expand their role in shaping state policies and consolidating their presence within key institutions,” said Baghdad-based political analyst Ahmed Younis.

Some Iraqi security officials say the US pullout also risks giving new life to Islamic State fighters, who, despite the defeat of their self-proclaimed caliphate nearly a decade ago, retain a sleeper cell network.

The last time the US withdrew, the Iraqi army proved no match for Islamic State: soldiers took off their uniforms and fled when the group captured Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, in 2014.

“The most important question now is whether Iraq’s security institutions have prepared a viable Plan B for the post-coalition phase,” said retired Iraqi Army General Mohammed al-Jubouri, who led a brigade in the war against Islamic State.

Politicians have accused the head of Election Commission of India — long regarded as the guardian of the world’s largest democracy — of acting at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

The election body has rejected the allegations, saying all its decisions were legally valid, while its chief Gyanesh Kumar has not commented.

“The main issue is the theft of votes,” said Rahul Gandhi, of the main opposition Congress party.

“We are going to ensure that those who have destroyed Indian democracy are punished,” he told reporters.

Opposition lawmakers will march to the Election Commission in New Delhi on Tuesday, and hold “save democracy” rallies countrywide in the days following, said Congress party chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

The Indian Express daily reported last week that some key decisions linked to the contentious revision exercise were likely taken without the approval of two of the three election commissioners.

The commission said the report gave “only one part of the picture”.

It maintains that the revision was intended to remove duplicate entries and prevent “foreign illegal immigrants” from appearing on voter rolls.

In a telephone conversation, Modi and Trump reviewed bilateral cooperation in trade, defence, energy and critical technologies, the Indian Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

“The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to advancing the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and agreed to maintain close engagement to deepen cooperation,” the statement said.

They also exchanged views on regional and international developments, including efforts to promote global peace and security, it added.

India trade minister to visit US for deal talks, New Delhi says

India’s Trade Minister Piyush Goyal is visiting the United States from September 29 to October 5 for talks on a proposed bilateral trade agreement and an interim arrangement.

Goyal is due to meet US counterparts as part of efforts to advance a “balanced and mutually beneficial” India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement, New Delhi said earlier this week.

Goyal arrived in Milwaukee on Tuesday for a G20 trade ministers’ meeting and met chief executives and senior executives from US manufacturing and technology companies at a roundtable hosted by the National Association of Manufacturers, India’s trade ministry said.

He was also scheduled to attend a meeting of G20 trade ministers in Wisconsin at the invitation of US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

India-US trade deal can be finalised after tariff probe concludes, official says

India and the United States have yet to reach agreement after months of negotiations, with New Delhi seeking improved terms in the proposed deal.

Earlier this month, India said it had told Washington that new US tariff measures linked to India’s purchases of Russian oil could affect bilateral relations.

Describing the event as “a highly severe security incident,” Netanyahu said Saudi authorities would interrogate the co-pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073 from the United Arab Emirates to Israel.

The alleged assailant, who an Israeli official identified as an Omani national, was arrested after the plane landed, Netanyahu said.

“All passengers are out of harm’s way,” Netanyahu, who described the passengers as being almost all Israeli, said in a video statement released by his office.

The Israeli leader quoted a passenger as saying that passengers along with a member of the crew broke into the cockpit after the aircraft “entered a tailspin and began to dive” and found the co-pilot “trying to sabotage the plane’s systems.”

“They saved many lives. They prevented a heavy disaster,” he said.

An Israeli official had earlier told Reuters the plane transmitted emergency signals. The aircraft’s data appeared to show that it had suddenly and rapidly descended by nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before a first emergency signal was sent, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.

Around the time the plane landed in Saudi Arabia, Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office, told Reuters the incident was not believed to have been a hijacking, describing it as a “different incident”.

The Israeli officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to brief reporters, said Israel’s current assessment is that the incident was an attempted “terror attack” and not related to any kind of mental health issue with either of the pilots.

Iran’s allies were celebrating on Wednesday after Washington withdrew the last of its forces from neighboring Iraq, where 4,500 US troops died in the biggest US war of the century. More than 200,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in chaos unleashed after US forces toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Tehran views the pullout as a victory for its “axis of resistance” of allied armed groups and a step towards its aim of driving US forces out of the region.

With the US-Israeli war against Iran now entering its eighth month, Iran put forward a proposal last week under which the United States would lift its blockade of Iranian ports and Iran would reopen the disrupted Strait of Hormuz within seven days.

Trump said on Sunday he had rejected the proposal, although Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran had not received a formal rejection. In a post on X on Wednesday, an Iranian government spokesperson said Araqchi had conveyed a US response to the Iranian government.

Iran says its plan aims to restore an interim agreement that collapsed weeks after it was signed by Trump and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian in June.

Last week, Qatari mediators shuttled between US and Iranian envoys in New York on the sidelines of a meeting of the United Nations, the first proximity talks between the warring sides since the ceasefire unravelled.

An official briefed on the talks, who is not Iranian and spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the Qataris had briefed Araqchi on the US response on Tuesday when Araqchi stopped off in Doha on his way home from New York. According to the official, the sides largely agree about the steps that are needed but still disagree about the order in which to take them.

Iran wants an eventual deal to grant it control over the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil shipping route, which runs past its coast.

Shipping through the strait has increased in recent weeks, with shippers charging high fees to brave the risk of attacks. But flows of crude oil, refined products, and natural gas remain substantially disrupted. In the latest incidents, Britain’s UKMTO maritime security body reported on Wednesday that two ships had been hit by projectiles the previous day.

US withdrawal seen in Iraq as defeat for Washington

US and Iraqi officials announced the withdrawal of the last American troops from bases in Iraq on Wednesday, fulfilling a plan agreed in 2024 under President Joe Biden and carried out by the Trump administration while it wages war with Iran next door.

The withdrawal was celebrated by Iran and its allies. It marked an “​historic victory for the Iraqi Islamic resistance groups and honorable Iraqis and a crushing defeat for the American project,” said Abu Mojtaba al-Yasiri, a commander in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of armed factions.

Iraq, which the United States invaded in 2003, and Tehran has established broad political and military influence there.

The country has frequently become a proxy battlefield between the United States and Iran. Of the 18 US service members listed as killed since Trump launched “Operation Epic Fury” in February, seven died in Iraq. Washington blames groups in Iraq for striking neighbouring countries, most recently knocking out a big Saudi oil pipeline three weeks ago.

The US withdrawal raises “the possibility that Iran’s proxies will feel increasingly empowered in the absence of a Western military presence,” said Baghdad-based political analyst Ahmed Younis. “These groups may attempt to expand their role in shaping state policies and consolidating their presence within ​key institutions.”

At home in the United States, polls show the Iran war was unpopular from the outset. The disruption to global energy supplies and resulting surge in fuel prices have hurt Trump’s Republicans, trying to hang on to both houses of Congress in legislative elections five weeks away.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps urged Americans on Tuesday to vote out Trump’s allies.

“Remove from power the evil, deceitful, and violent politicians who are responsible for America’s current state,” they wrote in a 26-page letter to US voters. “Make sure your politicians understand that the world has changed.”

The war has intensified an economic crisis inside Iran, but Tehran has retained the ability to strike its neighbours and menace ships in the strait, where a fifth of global oil transited before the war. Trump says the war will be over soon and Iran will ultimately surrender.

“I don’t know if they are going to give up yet but they’ll give up,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “They are doing very poorly.”

Passengers gave a similar account of the incident on board, describing a fight for control after the plane suddenly plummeted, losing around 17,000 feet of altitude in the span of a minute, according to the Flightradar24 website.

Flydubai said all the passengers — of whom 166 out of 174 were Israeli, according to media reports — were safe, adding that reasons for the altercation were unknown.

A passenger told AFP that the group had departed again for Tel Aviv after a wait in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk.

“During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board,” Netanyahu said in a video message.

The ministry said the decisions were made given the complexity of the cases, two separate statements, both dated September 27, showed.

The announcements came days after China and the US held new trade talks and agreed to a two-month extension of their trade truce through to January 10 and tariff cuts on $60 billion of goods.

China, US agree tariff cuts on $60bn of goods including agriculture, household items

The two trade barrier investigations were initially launched on March 27 and were looking into US trade practices and measures that “disrupt global supply and industrial ​chains” and “hinder trade in green products”.

They were counter-probes to US Section 301 investigations over forced labour and excess industrial capacity and were originally scheduled to conclude within six months, but could be extended.

Medics said an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle killed at least four people and wounded 14 others in the Tel Al-Hawa neighbourhood in Gaza City, while an earlier airstrike on an apartment elsewhere in the city killed a woman.

Later on Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike outside a mosque in Khan Younis killed one person and wounded others, medics said, taking the day’s death toll to at least six.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on any of the reported strikes.

Israel, which says Hamas has been rearming and launching attacks in violation of an October ceasefire, has stepped up strikes on the group in recent weeks.

Israeli strikes kill at least two people in Gaza, officials say

Hamas has denied trying to carry out attacks or rebuild its arsenal and accuses Israel of undermining the Gaza peace deal.

Last year’s US-brokered ceasefire calls for eventual reconstruction of the territory. But little progress has been made as negotiators have failed to agree terms for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its troops.

Israeli airstrikes have continued. At least 1,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire, according to the territory’s health officials, while Israel says four of its soldiers have been killed.

Palestinian authorities say more than 74,000 people have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza.

Flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai diverted over Jordanian airspace towards Saudi Arabia, transmitting a general emergency signal before transmitting another emergency signal that indicates a possible unlawful interference several minutes later, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24.

Iran threatens new strikes

The Boeing 737 plane then again transmitted the general emergency signal before landing at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, the website said.

The incident was not believed to have been a hijacking, the Israeli prime minister’s office said. Flydubai was not immediately available for comment.

Iraq, Syria close airspace after Iran attacks Israel

An Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the pilots had transmitted the emergency signals after getting into a physical altercation with each other.

It was not immediately clear if either pilot had intentionally transmitted the signal.

Three Israeli security officials earlier told Reuters that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held consultations over the flight. Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir also held a “situational assessment” with the commander of the air force and other military officials, Israel’s military said in a statement.

Flydubai starts flights for Lahore, Islamabad

Flydubai operates daily flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv, a route that is popular among Israeli nationals.

Saudi Arabia and Israel do not have official diplomatic relations.

Mahathir, 101, was admitted to the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday night for observation, though the reason for his admission was unclear pending an official diagnosis, his aide Sufi Yusoff said.

Mahathir, who led the Southeast Asian nation for more than two decades in two stints, has a history of heart problems and has undergone bypass surgeries.

He has been hospitalised repeatedly in recent years, most recently in January for a hip fracture after a fall.

His wife Siti Hasmah, a medical doctor and public health advocate to whom he was married for 70 years, died on Monday at the age of 100.

Mahathir was visibly affected by her death, tearfully telling the country’s former king that he “didn’t expect her to die today,” according to video taken during her funeral and posted on his social media accounts.‑Reuters

The country received 12.6% below average rainfall during the season, the official from the state-run India Meteorological Department said.

India’s monsoon to weaken over west, south, slowing crop sowing

Araqchi is expected to discuss the US response in Tehran on Wednesday, the official said.

Iran last week presented a seven-day proposal under which Araqchi said the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened and normal maritime passage restored if the necessary conditions were met.

US President Donald Trump subsequently rejected the proposal, prompting further Qatari mediation.

The Qatari mediators conveyed the feedback they had received from Washington on Monday, meeting Araqchi and his team on their way back from the United States, the official said.

The document being circulated outlines a seven-day period of trust-building aimed at returning the two sides to an enhanced version of the memorandum of understanding agreed in June, including concrete steps on Iran’s nuclear programme, the official said, without further elaboration.

The disagreement centres on the sequencing of the steps rather than the components of the plan, the official added.

Qatar has been shuttling messages between Washington and Tehran in an effort to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The June memorandum of understanding led to a brief ceasefire and included provisions on the strait and Iran’s nuclear programme.

Fires ⁠broke out, affecting ​private houses along with a ​store and a warehouse in Kyiv and leaving two people ​injured, Mayor Vitali Klitschko ​said on Telegram.

A Reuters witness ‌heard ⁠explosions in the city.

Tymur Tkachenko, Kyiv regional governor, writing on Telegram, said ​that ​a Russian ⁠missile and a drone strike killed ​a child and ​injured ⁠three more people in the area, also damaging infrastructure ⁠facilities, ​houses, warehouses ​and cars.

Iran executes man accused of providing missile info to Israel: judiciary

Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the men’s death sentences and the executions were carried out after the legal process was completed, SNN said.

The database is highly sensitive as firms could be targeted for boycotts or divestment to pressure Israel over settler expansion in the territory that is home to over 3 million Palestinians.

The database, first released in 2020, now includes 214 firms, mostly from Israel, but also from 10 other countries including France, Germany, China and the US.

US President Donald Trump has already dismissed the proposal from Tehran, but Iran’s foreign minister said Monday that he was expecting a formal response from American officials within a day.

Fighting has subsided in recent weeks, though Tehran has continued to target ships in the strait, with Washington falling back on an economic pressure campaign instead of further military action.

READ ALSO: Trump says US will win Iran war ‘very soon’

Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Tuesday threatened new attacks, saying no infrastructure in the region would be safe if his country’s security was not guaranteed.

“In a region where we cannot sell oil, no one else will sell oil either; or if our security is not guaranteed, no infrastructure will remain safe,” Ghalibaf, who is also Iran’s parliament speaker, said according to a video released by state TV.

Iran has maintained a blockade on commercial shipping through Hormuz since the war began in late February with US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic.

The shipping route carried a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the conflict began.

The US military has been maintaining a counterblockade of Iran’s ports in an effort to prevent Tehran from exporting oil.

‘Focus solely on the strait’

Speaking about prospects for reopening the Hormuz, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said late Monday that Qatari intermediaries “presented ideas, and we discussed them; they are set to raise the matter with the American side once more, after which the final US response will be conveyed to us”.

The top diplomat, who was in New York for the UN General Assembly, said “the Qataris hope this will be done by tomorrow”.

“The current focus is solely on the Strait of Hormuz, and the reopening of the strait is contingent upon the fulfilment of certain conditions that we have communicated to the other side,” he added.

Last week, discussions were held in New York between Araghchi and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

On Tuesday, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said there had been “several meetings and messages have been exchanged, including some in New York and earlier”.

“Current efforts are focused on building common ground between the parties.”

As a precondition for ending its blockade, Iran is demanding a seven-day ceasefire across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, where its ally Hezbollah is regularly bombed by Israel.

Iran is also demanding the unfreezing of its assets abroad, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector and an end to the US naval blockade on its ports.

‘A few hundred barrels’

Both sides claim to have control of Hormuz, with the US saying oil is moving through and Tehran insisting the waterway is closed.

On Tuesday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the country’s military, said “the US claim that it remains open is false”.

“Sneaking a few hundred barrels of oil through under the cover of darkness — with transponders turned off and at great cost — does not constitute the strait being open,” said spokesperson Hossein Mohebi.

“A truly open strait is one where, as in the past, at least 125 vessels would pass through daily, transporting a minimum of 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products.

“Any vessel attempting to pass through sustains damage — either we strike it, or it hits a mine,” he added.

Tehran’s stranglehold on Hormuz has been a severe blow to Gulf states, which have also come under Iranian fire.

Al Ansari on Tuesday said Iranian authorities “need to take a decision to distance our countries from this war and to take a very clear position of non-aggression towards their neighbors”.

The Boeing 737 jet had completed embarkment and was preparing for takeoff on Monday, when officials detained it on the basis of a court-issued seizure order, Turkey’s Anadolu news agency said.

The reports did not cite new US sanctions against Iranian airlines, an effort to further choke the country’s economy during the Middle East war.

In a statement relayed by Iranian state television, Caspian Airlines said the Istanbul flight to Tehran faced “temporary operational restrictions regarding one of its Boeing aircraft due to an administrative issue in Turkey”.

The meeting comes as the kingdom reels from weeks of attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on its tankers, oil facilities, airports and even its capital, after the group took control of the Red Sea coast from Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces.

Riyadh has for weeks been reaching out to international allies for help against the Houthis.

The crown prince and the vice president met to “review brotherly bilateral relations and regional developments”, the Saudi Press Agency said, adding the sit-down was also attended by Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman.

Last December, Riyadh accused Abu Dhabi of threatening its national security by supporting southern Yemeni separatists who orchestrated a brief offensive in government-held areas.

But in July, top officials and ministers from Saudi Arabia and the UAE began posting messages on social media about friendship and unity, signalling a rapprochement.

That same month, Yemen’s civil war roared back to life when the Houthis launched a new campaign against Saudi-backed government forces, taking over a swath of territory and launching attacks on Saudi soil.

The group has also declared a maritime blockade on Saudi ships in the Red Sea.

Riyadh has been carrying out strikes on the Houthis, while for weeks reaching out to international allies for help.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been at odds on foreign policy for some time, from Yemen and Sudan to the Horn of Africa, where they have supported rival forces.

The king asked El Mansouri to form a new government, the palace said in a statement.

El Mansouri’s Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) was created in 2008 by an adviser to the king and has since positioned itself as a counterweight to the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) by advocating social modernisation and secular-leaning views.

Morocco is a constitutional monarchy where the king retains sweeping powers over foreign policy, defence and other key portfolios.

Under Morocco’s constitution, the king appoints the head of government from the political party that wins the largest number of seats in the House of Representatives.

PAM, which was the second-largest member in the outgoing coalition, moved up to the top spot, bolstered by the recruitment of Fouzi Lekjaa, Morocco’s football federation chief and two-time government budget manager, who joined weeks before the vote.

El Mansouri, a lawyer who was housing minister in the outgoing government and Marrakech mayor, will lead talks to form a coalition government and submit a list of cabinet members for the king’s approval.

‘No red lines’

The incoming government will oversee the last stages of a $20-billion push to get ready for the 2030 World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Portugal and Spain.

It will also implement economic policies aimed at addressing widespread youth discontent, an issue highlighted by a mass border rush on the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in July and deadly Gen-Z-led protests last year.

PAM won 97 seats, followed by its partners in the outgoing government, the liberal-centrist National Rally of Independents (RNI) with 66 seats, and the conservative nationalist Istiqlal with 65.

During the campaign, PAM had ruled out staying in a coalition with the RNI — the two had traded blame over policy shortcomings including a failure to halt rises in food prices.

But El Mansouri said on Thursday she would have no “red lines” when it came to negotiations. “We have turned the page,” she  said.

Abdelilah Benkirane, former prime minister and leader of the PJD, which won 54 seats, said the party would stay in opposition.

Three leftist parties took smaller shares of the seats.

Turnout, closely watched as an indicator of trust in elected institutions, fell to about 38% from around 50% in the previous elections five years ago, when the moderate Islamist PJD was dealt a crushing defeat after a decade in power.

In recent years, King Mohammed VI had appointed a female adviser and Morocco has had women in senior institutional roles. The outgoing government had four women ministers.

The sanctions are part of the Trump administration’s effort to isolate Iran economically and force it to negotiate an end to the US-Iran war that began in February.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: “Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s enablers.”

Treasury said the sanctions were aimed at degrading Tehran’s ability to reconstitute its weapons programs, while increasing the costs for those who supported its procurement efforts.

Those targeted in Tuesday’s sanctions announcement include:

Seyyed Asghar Alizadeh Tabatabai, a Beijing-based representative of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics agency, who Treasury said had coordinated the procurement of finished weapons systems and dual-use components in China on Iran’s behalf.

Iran-based Kavoshcom Asia R and D Group, which Treasury said had procured electronics including connectors for Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company.

Hong Kong-based EC Mojo Technology Co Limited, which Treasury said had provided electronic components in support of Kavoshcom’s procurement efforts, and EC Mojo’s China-based representative Li Fen.

Pakistan-based Waseem Pasha Tajammal, who serves as chairman of Cavalier Group, a privately owned defence company with locations in Pakistan and internationally.

Brett Erickson, managing principal with Obsidian Risk Advisors, said the latest sanctions action would do little to impede Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones in the Strait of Hormuz.

“This is optics management for the Trump administration to claim ‘We’re hammering them,’ when the reality is we’re poking them with a toothpick,” he said.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell by 6.7 points to 81.9 this month, its lowest level since April 2014.

The high cost of living in the United States is a major issue as the country heads into key midterm elections in November, where Democrats are seeking to wrest control of Congress from US President Donald Trump’s Republican Party.

“Consumers’ write-in responses regarding factors affecting the economy were mostly pessimistic in September,” said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board.

“References to prices, the high cost of goods and services, and oil and gas prices in particular, rose to new heights, reflecting September’s surge in fuel costs.”

Global oil prices have skyrocketed since Trump and US ally Israel launched the war against Iran in late February, with Tehran’s retaliatory action targeting Washington’s allies in the Gulf and virtually shutting a key energy trading route.

In the United States, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline is up almost 50 percent since the start of the war, according to data from the AAA motor club.

“Comments about war/conflict eased this month but remained elevated,” said Peterson. “Consumers also frequently cited politics, trade, and employment in their write-in responses, though to a lesser extent.”

Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said the new data was of concern.

“American consumers are worried about this economy. That’s alarming just as the most important shopping season of the year kicks off,” she said, referring to the pre-Christmas period that the US retail sector relies on.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

The resumption of Yanbu loadings, halted earlier this month after a drone attack on the pipeline, weighed on global oil prices on Monday as it added to signs of increased flows from the Middle East, from which the US war with Iran has throttled oil shipments.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco notified customers on Monday evening of its October loading schedule from Yanbu, an Asian refining source said. The refiner loaded a cargo from Yanbu late last week.

Drone attacks, which Saudi Arabia blamed on Iraqi militias, forced the kingdom to shut the pipeline on September 11, halting crude exports from Yanbu. Pipeline operations resumed last Tuesday.

Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mideast oil exports rebound in September as Saudi Arabia boosts shipments

Oil products are also being loaded, tracker says

European Space Agency satellite pictures also pointed to a resumption of loading.

“ESA satellite imagery captured over the Red Sea on September 27 shows Saudi Arabia loading nearly 10 million barrels of crude oil at Yanbu and Al Muajjiz,” vessel-tracking firm TankerTrackers wrote in a post on X on Tuesday.

Al Muajjiz is a terminal south of Yanbu.

“We also observed refined-product loadings. In total, we visually identified 40 tankers, regardless of their activity or proximity to these terminals.”

Two trade sources separately estimated crude loadings from Yanbu at about 2 million barrels per day since last week.

Saudi Arabia restarts East-West oil pipeline, sources say

Oil throughput on the pipeline is about 2 million barrels per day, according to an industry source, and around 2.65 million bpd according to ship-tracking firm Kpler. This is far short of the pipeline’s 7 million bpd capacity.

Throughput will climb to between 3 million and 4 million bpd in the coming days, Kpler said. A full return to the pre-attack rate of roughly 5.5 million bpd could still take another month, it said in a note on Monday.

Crude inventories at the Yanbu terminal rose by roughly 1 million barrels on September 22, the first build since the attack, according to Kpler.

The restart of crude loading at Yanbu added to signs of rising Middle East oil shipments following a recovery in exports via the Strait of Hormuz.

Crude oil loadings at Egypt’s Sidi Kerir resumed on September 22 after a 10-day hiatus, but tankers remain queued offshore as restrictions continue to limit access for much of the commercial fleet, Kpler said in the note.

Iraqi security experts say the withdrawal — agreed in 2024 under President Joe Biden and carried out by Donald Trump’s administration even as it wages war against Iran — could give Tehran and its powerful allies free rein, while also allowing other US enemies to stage a comeback, including Islamic State.

“Iran stands to benefit strategically from the coalition’s departure because it removes a military presence that for years acted as a counterweight to Tehran’s influence in Iraq,” said Jasim al-Bahadli, an Iraqi security analyst.

He predicted that the militia groups would not only portray the departure as a victory for their movement, but also “seek to translate that momentum into greater influence over security and political decision-making”.

Abu Mojtaba al-Yasiri, a commander in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, described the US withdrawal as “a historic victory for the Iraqi Islamic resistance groups and honourable Iraqis, and a crushing defeat for the American project”.

US warns Iran over alleged involvement in Iraq unrest

“On September 30, we will celebrate the turning of a black page in Iraq’s history and the failure of the occupation to impose its will on our country,” he told Reuters. “Iraq has proven that its sovereignty cannot be secured by foreign forces, but by the resistance and the will of its people.”

Not ready

While the eventual departure of US forces is broadly popular among Iraqis, those who worry about the strength of the groups fear the withdrawal is premature.

“We believe Iraq is still not fully ready to take over the security file at this time,” Abdulrahman al-Zobaie, once a bastion of anti-American resistance, told Reuters.

“All Iraqis aspire to full sovereignty, and no Iraqi would dispute that. But I believe that the (US-led coalition) leaving in this way and creating a vacuum is what all Iraqis fear.”

American forces invaded Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein, and went on to occupy the country before withdrawing at the end of 2011.

Around twice as many Americans died in “Operation Iraqi Freedom” as in the parallel war in Afghanistan, which ended with an abrupt US withdrawal in 2021.

US military says US, Saudi forces struck sites of Iran-backed groups in Iraq

In recent years, Iraq has been the only country to maintain close political and military alliances with both the United States and Iran.

The United States killed a top Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani, with a strike on Baghdad Airport in 2020. Iran’s allies repeatedly fired on US bases, sometimes drawing reprisals.

In this year’s war against Iran, 7 of the 18 US service members listed as killed were in Iraq, the last an army sergeant who died during the controlled detonation of a drone at a base near Erbil in July.

Victory for Iran’s axis

Iran, which says its ultimate aim is to force American forces to leave the entire Middle East, casts the US withdrawal from Iraq as a victory for its “axis of resistance” of allied armed groups across the region.

“Lasting security will prevail in Iraq” once the Americans leave the country and the region, the deputy chairman of the National Security Commission of Iran’s Parliament, Amir Hayat Moqaddam, said on Monday.

Iran “welcomes the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and will undoubtedly support it,” he told Iran’s parliamentary news service. “Resistance groups are currently taking action, sometimes targeting and confronting American troops.”

Iraq, Syria close airspace after Iran attacks Israel

Washington has accused militia groups in Iraq of playing a role in the wider Middle East conflict by launching attacks on neighbouring countries at the direction of Tehran, most recently hitting a major Saudi oil pipeline this month. The Baghdad government says it is trying to curb their influence.

New life for Islamic State?

Some Iraqi security officials, both in the federal government and the semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, say the US pullout also risks giving new life to Islamic State, who, despite the defeat of their self-proclaimed caliphate nearly a decade ago, retains a sleeper cell network.

A lack of US intelligence, logistical support and drones will give Islamic State a chance to regroup, said Kurdish commander Sirwan Barzani.

“For more than two weeks, we have noticed movement by (Islamic State) sleeper cells, after it was announced in the general media that there will be an official withdrawal of the international coalition from Iraq by the end of September,” he said. “This has boosted, in my opinion, the morale” of the fighters.

Iraqi security forces said a suspected Islamic State cell was preparing suicide attacks to coincide with the pullout. The plot highlighted concerns that the militant group remains capable of exploiting security gaps despite years of military setbacks, said four Iraqi security and army officials.

Islamic State “is seeking to send a message that the group is still powerful and capable of launching bloody attacks,” said Colonel Khalid al-Bayati, a senior security official in the strategic oil town of Kirkuk.

The ministry said Iraq had secured a special exemption allowing Iraqi Airways to operate services to Iran.

Iraq halted flights to and from Iran on Friday in line with US sanctions, and the government had sought exemptions for travel related to pilgrimage, medical treatment and education.

The transport ministry said services next month would initially operate from the Shi’ite holy city of Najaf once regulatory and technical requirements were completed.

A source in the Iraqi transport ministry said the exemption was provided by the US Treasury and would run for one month. The number of allowed flights has not yet been determined, the source said.

Three Iraqi airports suspend Iranian flights starting Friday, sources and state media say

The announcement comes after Reuters reported on Monday that the Trump administration was set to grant a one-month US Treasury waiver allowing Iraqi Airways to fly between Iran and Najaf, with a more permanent exemption potentially following.

Baghdad had offered safeguards including passenger screening and information sharing, as well as measures to prevent the flights being used to transport weapons, sanctioned individuals or illicit money, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Among his reasons for waging war on ​Iran, Trump has cited the need to ensure ​that it will never be able to build ⁠a nuclear weapon.

“The enemy (US) knows that Iran is ​not after nuclear weapons,” Hossein Mohebbi said. “Their issue with ​Iran is not its nuclear programme but rather its vastness, which they want to destroy.”

He also challenged US assertions that Iran ​has lost most of its leverage over the ​Strait of Hormuz, in part because the US military has been ‌able ⁠to protect some of the tankers bringing oil out of the Gulf.

“The fact that the Americans might manage, at great expense, considerable trouble, and high risk to ​sneak a small ​vessel through ⁠the Strait of Hormuz under cover of darkness to export, say, 100 or ​200 barrels of oil does not mean ​the Strait ⁠is open,” Mohebbi said.

Mojtaba says US will be forced out of ME

According to Kpler data, September has seen a recovery of oil exports via the Strait of ⁠Hormuz, ​which are set to hit ​almost 10 million barrels per day, about half the pre-war volume.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ​Netanyahu and Defence ​Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli military had targeted and ​killed Beik, who ​they said has been involved ‌in ⁠the planning of attacks and recruitment of militants.

Medics and Hamas sources ​confirmed ​Beik’s ⁠killing in the Israeli strike on ​an apartment building ​in ⁠Gaza City’s Nasr neighbourhood around dawn.

“This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, responding to ​an Axios report that cited US officials as saying that ​he was willing to give Iran sanctions relief and ⁠release Iranian frozen funds in return for “concrete” Iranian steps regarding ​the nuclear program.

The Axios report did not identify the US officials.

Oil prices rise for second session on continued Middle East supply concern

CNN ​also reported, citing an unidentified US official, that Trump was willing to give Iran sanctions relief and release frozen funds as part of a final deal ​on the condition that Iran offered “concrete progress” on the nuclear ​issue.

Trump has offered shifting goals and timelines for the Iran war that began on ‌February ⁠28 when the US and Israel attacked Iran and Tehran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases.

US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed ​thousands and displaced millions.

US ​and Iranian officials spoke ⁠separately with mediators on Monday as part of a renewed effort to end seven months of ​war, according to officials of both countries.

Trump has cited ​weakening ⁠Iran’s nuclear capabilities as one of his war objectives.

Iran, which does not have nuclear weapons, denies seeking them.

The US is nuclear-armed.

Trump denies offering to sell arms to China’s Xi

Tehran says ⁠it ​has the right to develop nuclear technology ​for peaceful purposes as a party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Citing “new data” on the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, Zelenskiy said in a post on X they were “being selected for training and subsequent deployment to Russia.”

The Ukrainian president said in August that up to 50,000 North Korean soldiers could be sent to fight for Russia, and called on South Korea to provide support for Ukraine’s air defence.

South Korea announced in July a $100 million aid package for Ukraine, although it excluded lethal weapons.

Zelenskiy’s comments on Monday came after Seoul and Kyiv were at odds over his announcement last week that Ukraine had transferred two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea.

Seoul expressed regret over his announcement, citing an agreement to keep the transfer confidential. South Korea also protested against what it called a false statement from the Ukrainian presidential office denying that such a confidentiality agreement existed.

North Korea has sent an estimated 14,000 to 15,000 troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine since 2024, according to Ukrainian and South Korean estimates, with most deployed in the Kursk region to help repel a Ukrainian incursion.

Pyongyang has also supplied Russia with millions of artillery and mortar rounds, as well as ballistic missiles, long-range artillery systems and multiple-launch rocket systems, according to Ukrainian and independent assessments.