Day 227 of the WarMonday, October 12, 2026
Day 227 — India Says Two Sailors Missing After Drone Strikes on Tankers; UK Says the IRGC Almost Certainly Directed the RAF Fairford Plot; Rezaei Threatens '$2 Trillion' in U.S. Assets
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Strait of Hormuz · Sohar · FujairahTehran · Strait of HormuzLondon · WashingtonTehran · Evin PrisonRiyadh · Taiz
Rezaei Threatens to Destroy '$2 Trillion' in U.S. Assets if War Resumes; Khamenei's Adviser Calls Hormuz Iran's Territorial Water as Tasnim Floats Fees on Undersea Cables
Iran- Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said that if war resumes, Iran will destroy 'more than $2 trillion in U.S. assets in the UAE and along the Strait of Hormuz,' adding that the Persian Gulf 'cannot be secured without Iran's management of Hormuz,' per Open Source Intel.source
- Yahya Rahim Safavi, senior adviser to Mojtaba Khamenei, called Hormuz 'an inseparable part of our territorial waters' and said restricting traffic is the armed forces' 'right and strategic duty'; armed forces spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi urged Gulf states to leave the U.S. 'security umbrella,' per Iran International.source
- The IRGC-owned Tasnim agency claimed Tehran could require Google and Meta to obtain licences, accept technical inspections and pay transit fees for undersea cables running through Iran's territorial waters, per Shin.source
- First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said Iran is 'a civilization of several thousand years' that subdued invaders from Alexander to the Mongols, warning that if enemies 'make a mistake' they will face a 'far firmer and stronger' response, according to state agency IRNA cited by Iran International.source
Pezeshkian Says Iran Is at a 'Dangerous Historical Turning Point' and Cheap Gasoline Cannot Last; Evin Guards Reportedly Beat a Prisoner's Brother as a UN Expert Joins a Hunger Strike Against Executions
Iran- Speaking at the reopening of universities, Pezeshkian said the country is at a 'dangerous historical turning point' that military tools alone cannot fix, and that gasoline cannot keep selling at 1,500 tomans when transport costs 5,000, though a sudden hike would throw society 'into chaos,' per Iran International.source
- Pezeshkian also attacked interference in appointing managers and big bonuses at loss-making state firms holding 6,000–7,000 trillion tomans in capital, saying he raised it with Mojtaba Khamenei; the Statistical Center put Shahrivar's point-to-point inflation at 89.8% and annual inflation at 73.6%, per RadioFarda.source
- Sources told Iran International that on Oct. 11 the head of Evin's visiting hall and his deputy severely beat the brother of a female political prisoner in front of children; visits for women political prisoners have been cut from one hour to 20 minutes, and a tenth woman has lost phone calls for a month.source
- UN Special Rapporteur Gina Romero began a 24-hour hunger strike in solidarity with the 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign, started in Ghezel Hesar prison in early 2024 and since joined by hundreds of prisoners in 56 prisons, saying Iran uses the death penalty against people exercising free expression, per RadioFarda.source
India Confirms Drone Strikes on Two Ships With Indian Crews and Two Sailors Missing; UKMTO Logs More Projectile Hits as Supertankers Shun the Gulf
Gulf & Naval- India's foreign ministry confirmed drone attacks on two vessels with Indian crews in the Hormuz area, with two sailors from the Nicaragua-flagged tanker Petro Delfin missing; a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker caught fire after an unknown projectile hit it, its 11 Indian crew safe, per RadioFarda.source
- Iran International said the Petro Delfin caught fire after a drone attack at Oman's Sohar anchorage on Sunday — one of at least three ships hit since the IRGC warned on Oct. 9 it would 'definitely' punish vessels crossing Hormuz without its permission; India's embassy in Muscat is helping search for the missing.source
- UKMTO issued further warnings on Monday of outbound tankers hit by unknown projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz — in one case with all crew safe, in another (advisory 169-26) reported so late that the time of the strike is unknown — and told ships to transit with caution, per Open Source Intel.source
- Bloomberg reported that at least 10 empty supertankers and several Suezmax tankers heading for Fujairah halted or changed course as attacks escalated, threatening ship-to-ship oil transfers off Fujairah and Oman; regional exports rose to 12.8 million bpd in September, still about 6 million below pre-war, per Iran International.source
Saudi Jets Pound Houthi Positions Around Taiz as Footage Shows the Missile Hitting Riyadh Airport; Analyst Says Riyadh Is Angry U.S. Air Defenses Do Not Cover Its Cities
Gulf & Naval- LiveIranNews reported eight Saudi-coalition airstrikes on Houthi positions, vehicles and support forces east, west and north of Taiz, saying local sources accused the Houthis of shelling the city's residential neighbourhoods from some of the targeted sites.source
- LiveIranNews published CCTV footage it said shows the Houthi ballistic missile striking the Terminal 3 area of Riyadh's King Khalid airport on Oct. 10, citing a Reuters-based report of 13 killed and over 300 injured, and noting the toll and footage were not independently verified.source
- Analyst Babak Taghvaee claimed the Saudi government is angry that U.S. Patriot batteries in the kingdom protect only Prince Sultan Air Base and that U.S. jets based there now patrol the Gulf, Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman instead of intercepting Houthi drones and cruise missiles.source
- Vedomosti, citing Russian experts, said Saudi Arabia is likely to step up its bombing of Yemen but will struggle to defeat the Houthis and will try to draw the U.S. directly into the fight — something Washington will resist before the midterms, per Iran International.source
UK Prime Minister Says the IRGC Almost Certainly Directed the RAF Fairford Plot; London Adds Sanctions and Summons Iran's Envoy as Eight Allies Warn Tehran
Global- Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Parliament the plot against RAF Fairford, home to U.S. heavy bombers, was 'very likely' coordinated in Iran and almost certainly directed by the IRGC, vowing more sanctions; Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Iran's ambassador was summoned, per RadioFarda.source
- Britain's latest sanctions package added two Iranian nationals accused of hostile activity, including espionage and involvement in threatening or plotting attacks against people outside Iran, per Iran International.source
- The U.S., UK, Australia, Canada, France, Spain, the Czech Republic and Germany jointly condemned 'Iran's use of violent attacks,' including lethal plots, arson, sabotage and cyberattacks, warning that any attempt to intimidate or harm people on their soil through proxies is unacceptable, per RadioFarda.source
- Tehran denied any role, calling the accusations 'baseless and biased speculation'; British police arrested five men near the base on Sept. 27 on suspicion of explosives and terrorism offences, and Trump said last week an Iran-related threat led U.S. B-1 bombers to leave Fairford, per RadioFarda.source