US tells Gulf allies to prepare for short, intense Iran strikes after 3 November midterms; Iran says 3 tankers hit mines

US officials have told Gulf allies to prepare for a possible renewal of strikes on Iran after the US midterm elections on 3 November, two diplomats told the Associated Press, as reported on CBS News' live page on Wednesday 28 October. President Donald Trump has not made a final decision, they said. The Wall Street Journal reported that Gulf countries were told to expect a short but intense campaign lasting several days, and that the US is moving a Patriot air-defence system from Texas to Israel, restocking munitions and adding a carrier strike group and a Marine unit to the region, according to Fox News' live coverage of the report. Regional officials expect Iranian and proxy retaliation to last longer than the strikes themselves, AP's sources said.

Asked late on 27 October about strikes after the midterms, Trump said: "I can't tell you that... but anything's possible," Fox News reported.

Iran says three tankers hit mines; US says that is false

On Thursday 29 October, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said three oil tankers exploded and caught fire after hitting naval mines on what it called the "unauthorized southern route" of the Strait of Hormuz, and blamed their owners and crews, CBS reported. The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO) logged a report from a ship's master of a burning vessel about 9 nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman; the crew's condition was not known.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) had called Iranian media claims of ships hitting mines "FALSE" on 28 October and said the main transit routes have been cleared. IRGC spokesman Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebi told CENTCOM to "prove" that with independent evidence. The US urges shippers to use the southern lane, which Trump declared mine-free in late August; Iran says ships must use the routes it controls near its own coast. Neither side has named the tankers, and the claims have not been independently confirmed.

Talks: a 7-day plan and a Qatari draft

Qatari mediators gave Iran a new draft deal to end the war, Reuters reported. A senior Iranian official denied that a new proposal had been made and called Qatar's ideas "unacceptable". Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday that Iran "continues to give diplomacy a chance" and is reviewing ways to carry out its own 7-Day Plan, which we covered this morning: Iran's 7-day plan to end the war and reopen Hormuz. Trump has rejected the plan's ceasefire-first approach. Iran says the US must lift its blockade of Iranian ports before talks.

What it means for Pakistan

• Oil and petrol: Brent crude was about $101.57 a barrel on 29 October, Business Recorder's market data showed. Any new fighting around Hormuz pushes that up, and PSO's ex-depot Karachi petrol price, already Rs 377.91 a litre on 29 October, follows it. Track it on our petrol price page and cost your monthly fuel with the fuel cost calculator.
• Pakistanis in the Gulf: millions of Pakistanis live and work in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait. Keep your embassy's helpline and your employer's emergency contacts saved, and follow your host government's instructions.
• Remittances: money sent home from the Gulf is the biggest share of Pakistan's remittances; a longer war could hit jobs there.