HATAMI MAKES IT OFFICIAL: HORMUZ STAYS CLOSED UNTIL IRAN GETS WHAT IT WANTS

Iran's Army Chief Hatami said Thursday that Hormuz "was closed immediately at the start of the war, remains closed today, and will remain closed until the enemy respects the rights of the Iranian nation." 1CRD Iran’s army chief vows Hormuz stays shut until Iranians’ rights 'honored'8PTV Army chief: Strait of Hormuz stays closed until enemy respects Iranian nation’s rights UKMTO data puts twelve vessels attacked in the week of October 5 to 11 alone, a wartime weekly record, with oil throughput down to 12.6 million barrels per day against a pre-war baseline of 17 million. 5BBC Ship attack reports near Hormuz reach record high as oil exports slow CENTCOM says traffic is flowing under escort. Hatami says those claims are false. The honest read: some ships are moving through the southern corridor under US protection, and Iran is hitting everything outside it, and sometimes inside it. Hatami also warned any strike on Iranian infrastructure would draw a response "several times greater" against US, Israeli, and partner-state interests, which puts Gulf Arab hosts of American logistics firmly in the target language. 1CRD Iran’s army chief vows Hormuz stays shut until Iranians’ rights 'honored'4MHR If rights not respected, restrictions to continue in Hormuz

Trump confirmed on Newsmax that the US is "looking at" striking the Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site and said "we'll knock it out fast." 3JPO 'We'll knock it out fast': Trump threatens Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site with strikes Multiple US officials told CNN the MOAB he appears to be referencing is an airburst weapon, not a bunker-buster, and the facility is shielded by granite. "It is definitely not designed as a deep penetration warhead." 10CRD White House considers using ‘mother of all bombs’ as ‘symbolic exit’ from Iran: Report What the MOAB does produce is a fireball, a miles-wide shockwave, and wall-to-wall news coverage. The gap between what it achieves militarily and what it achieves politically is the whole story here. Trump said in the same interview that Iran has "asked us to please stop" and the war will end "very soon," which is a remarkable pair of claims to make alongside a strike threat. 3JPO 'We'll knock it out fast': Trump threatens Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site with strikes

Five missiles struck the Al-Maashiq palace complex Thursday, killing five people and wounding 16. 7GDN Houthi missiles strike Yemen presidential palace, killing five The prime minister and cabinet were not present. A senior Yemeni minister told AFP the strike hit a Saudi-led coalition command centre inside the complex. 7GDN Houthi missiles strike Yemen presidential palace, killing five The UN Security Council condemned the attack and did nothing else. This is a step beyond airports and oil terminals: the Houthis just hit the symbolic seat of the internationally recognised Yemeni government, which signals they have concluded there is no political cost they cannot absorb. Former US ambassador Michael Ratney warned this week that the Houthis are now "increasingly independent-minded" and a deal with Iran may not stop them, which means resolving this campaign likely requires a separate negotiation that nobody in Washington or Riyadh currently has a plan for. 12ABC The 'huge problem' Saudi Arabia faces in its conflict with the Houthis

Ophir Falk told the Jerusalem Post that conditions for regime change in Tehran "are being created as we speak," characterising the US economic blockade as successful and describing Operations Rising Lion and Roaring Lion as "two of the most successful military operations in recent history." 9JPO WATCH: Israel ‘very close’ to creating conditions for regime change in Iran, Netanyahu adviser says Netanyahu's foreign policy adviser making maximalist claims one week before polls open is at least partly aimed at Israeli voters. It is also a signal to Washington that Jerusalem does not consider the war won, which bears directly on Trump's MOAB calculus. Make of that timing what you will.

Asked on Newsmax whether he trusts the Israeli prime minister, Trump said: "I don't trust anybody, honestly. In the world of politics, I don't trust anybody." 6YNT ‘I don't trust anybody’: Trump on Netanyahu, Israel's election and potential Iran strikes He declined to endorse Netanyahu ahead of the October 27 vote. Ten days before Israeli elections, with active consultations over Iran strikes ongoing, the US president publicly declines to back his closest wartime partner. That is either deliberate distancing or characteristic chaos, and the distinction matters for what comes after October 27, when whoever wins will immediately have to decide what to do next in Iran.