Saudi Arabia on Saturday said that it has shut down its East-West pipeline as a precaution after multiple attacks on the vital oil conduit earlier this week. Both Baghdad and Riyadh said the attacks originated in Iraqi territory, where Iranian-backed militias operate. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
Trump says Iran war will end after US midterm elections
President Donald Trump repeated that he believed the war with Iran will end after US midterm elections in November and that oil prices will tumble once it does.
"I think very soon. I think it'll be probably right after the mid-terms. They're trying to hold out as long as they can to complicate the election. But I think people are wise to it," Trump told reporters in Dublin.
"When that happens, oil prices will come tumbling down."
Iran president says Middle East has no need for US 'policeman'
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said that the Middle East does not need the United States to be a "regional policeman", with the two countries at war and vying for control of the Strait of Hormuz.
"We do not need a regional policeman: the territorial integrity and security of the region can only be guaranteed by its main players and the countries that comprise it," he said on the sidelines of a Brics summit in India during a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
"The territorial integrity and security of the region can only be guaranteed by its main players and the countries that comprise it," he added, according to the Iranian presidency.
Trump says Strait of Hormuz, Saudi concerns will 'work out just fine'
US President Donald Trump said that everything would "work out just fine" when asked whether he could help move traffic through the Strait of Hormuz in light of fresh concerns about Saudi Arabia.
"Everything will work out just fine," Trump said, speaking in Dublin after meeting Irish President Catherine Connolly.
Lebanon's president visits south after Israel blows up strategic Hezbollah site
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun visited the country's south on Saturday, in a surprise trip to a city close to a strategic Hezbollah position recently captured and blown up by Israel.
Official Lebanese media said he arrived in the city of Nabatieh unannounced and accompanied by security officials.
His visit comes a day after a senior US diplomatic official said a new round of US-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon, initially scheduled for next week, had been pushed back to October.
Aoun expressed solidarity with locals in Nabatieh who greeted him on Saturday, according to footage broadcast by Lebanese media.
US limits air defence time slots for tankers sailing through Hormuz, FT reports
The US has asked tankers travelling through the Strait of Hormuz to sail only at specific times to guarantee military protection after Iran stepped up attacks on ships travelling at night, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
Washington has been offering air-based defence since May to ships wanting to sail via a route hugging the Omani coast on the strait's southern side.
That period during which ships would be protected was cut down to two specific time slots daily around the start of September, the FT reported, citing emails sent by the US naval co-ordination centre to maritime advisers.
Iraq orders investigation into Saudi East-West pipeline attack
Iraq welcomed Saudi Arabia's decision to hold off on retaliation after Riyadh said drones launched from Iraqi territory struck its East-West pipeline.
Iraq condemned any attack threatening Saudi security and said its prime minister had ordered an investigation into those responsible, according to a statement from its armed forces.
Saudi East-West oil pipeline was temporarily shut down after attacks
The Saudi energy ministry said the vital East-West oil pipeline was temporarily shut down after several attacks on the pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions on Thursday, adding that some people were injured and received medical treatment, state media reported, citing a source at the Saudi energy ministry.
