Day 220 of the WarMonday, October 5, 2026

Day 220 — Alireza Raisi and Alireza Sepahi Executed in Isfahan; IRGC Turns Back a Tanker off Khasab; Pezeshkian Says Talks With the U.S. 'Make No Sense'

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Isfahan · Dastgerd Prison · KarajStrait of Hormuz · KhasabTehranWashington · KuwaitSaudi Arabia · Yemen · Prince Sultan Air Base

Iran

Sources close to their families reported that Alireza Raisi, 21, and Alireza Sepahi, 24, January-uprising detainees in Isfahan's 'Alikhani Square' case, were executed on Monday morning; forces barred burial in their hometowns, and they were buried in Natanz and Kashan, per Iran International.source
A day before his execution, Sepahi married his fiancée Mahshad Kashani, herself facing five years in prison, inside the prison; two months earlier he had a heart attack before a scheduled hanging on the day his cousin was executed. Seven people have now been executed in the case, per Iran International.source
Prince Reza Pahlavi's office, which had urged governments overnight to act to save the two men, said after the executions that 'state killings will not go unanswered' and that everyone from those who issued the orders to the executioners will answer to a fair court, per Iran International.source
Hengaw said Mohammad Naderi, a 45-year-old political prisoner arrested during the war and sentenced to death for 'espionage,' was moved without notice from Greater Tehran Prison to Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, heightening fears of his imminent execution, per Iran International.source

Iran

Meeting Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, Pezeshkian said the U.S. seeks 'to overthrow the Islamic Republic' and that negotiating with an enemy that assassinates, sanctions and breaks agreements 'makes no sense,' adding that Iran had been attacked three times after talks, per Iran International.source
Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei wrote on X that every enemy miscalculation against Iran has ended in heavy defeat and 'the next mistake will lead to new fronts and greater surprises,' citing Mojtaba Khamenei's leadership, per Iran International.source
Abbas Mousavi, a deputy in Pezeshkian's office, told Mehr that 'conditions are heading toward increased tensions,' called for '100% defensive readiness' while not neglecting talks, and said reopening Hormuz depends on the seven conditions set by the SNSC secretary, per Iran International.source
Pezeshkian nominated Mehrdad Akhlaghi, a former head of the IRGC's aerospace industries organization, as defense minister; RadioFarda noted he was sanctioned under UN Resolution 1737 in 2006 for his role in the ballistic missile program and was re-listed by the UN in September 2025.source

Gulf & Naval

UKMTO said a tanker entering the Strait of Hormuz 11 nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman, was hailed by the IRGC on Monday and told to turn back or be targeted; the master said the vessel complied, per Iran International.source
UKMTO also reported three separate attacks on tankers in the strait — an LPG carrier and a crude tanker on October 4 and another crude tanker on October 3 — per Iran International; Open Source Intel said one report claimed the crude tanker was struck by Iranian naval forces.source
On Monday evening UKMTO received a report that an 'unidentified projectile' hit an oil tanker in the strait, setting its engine room on fire; the crew were working to contain the blaze, with no casualties or environmental damage reported so far, per Iran International.source
Fars News published footage it said showed Iranian forces stopping an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, claiming the vessel was seized for violating maritime regulations and ignoring warnings, per Open Source Intel.source

Gulf & Naval

A Houthi statement claimed three operations against Saudi Arabia with ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, saying King Khalid Airport in Riyadh was hit and air traffic disrupted and the Aramco refinery in Rabigh set ablaze, in response to 60 Saudi airstrikes in 24 hours, per Open Source Intel.source
The Houthis said Abha Airport, the Khamis Mushait air base and sites in Asir, Najran and Jizan were also hit, and airlines were warned to halt flights through Saudi airspace except to Mecca and Medina; a USAF KC-46A tanker was tracked toward Yemen, likely backing Saudi strikes, per Open Source Intel.source
Babak Taghvaee reported a mass exodus of U.S. military aircraft from the CENTCOM and EUCOM areas beyond the B-1Bs that left RAF Fairford and fighters withdrawn in recent weeks, saying three AC-130Js flew from Prince Sultan Air Base to Andravida, Greece, on Friday before heading to the U.S.source

Global

Trump wrote on Truth Social that 'what's driving up gasoline is no longer the Strait of Hormuz,' because record numbers of barrels now come out almost daily, blaming refineries — Russian ones hit by Ukraine and U.S. ones closed in Democratic-run states — per Iran International.source
Kpler data showed Middle East crude exports topped pre-war levels on four days in late September, reaching 19.5–22.5 million barrels a day, and the seven-day average hit 18.5 million on October 1 versus 18 million before the war, despite continued attacks on ships, per Iran International.source
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation chief Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah told Bloomberg that Kuwait now pumps about 2 million barrels a day, roughly 75% of pre-war output, and that Iranian attacks increasingly target tankers' engine rooms, making repairs harder, per Iran International.source
Tehran MP Abdolhossein Rouhalamini asked why oil prices keep rising 'if the Strait of Hormuz is open and the American claims are true,' insisting any cargo now passes 'under special conditions and with the approval of the Islamic Republic,' per Iran International.source

Sources