Talks between the U.S. and Iran remain stalled despite the two countries signing a memorandum of understanding in June, aimed at ending the war that began with joint American-Israeli strikes on the country in February. The opening strikes killed a host of top Iranian officials and commanders, among them Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The two sides have continued to exchange strikes, though have not returned to the intense fighting seen in the early stages of the conflict. The U.S. says it is enforcing a naval blockade of the country's Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman ports, while Iran claims control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz and continues to claim attacks on shipping transiting the waterway.
Meanwhile, intensified fighting between Saudi-backed Yemeni forces and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen has seen the latter repeatedly attack Saudi military, oil infrastructure and transport facilities.
State Department offers $20 million for info on Iran's nuclear program
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program announced a reward of up to $20 million for information on Iran’s nuclear personnel, technologies and associated organizations -- emphasizing the U.S. commitment "to countering any attempt by Iran to develop a nuclear weapons program.”
The offer was later shared by CENTCOM’s X account.
The department also reissued its security alert for the Middle East, citing the increased threat of armed attacks by Iranian-supported Houthis and Iranian efforts to target U.S. government officials in the region. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned of the same plots a few weeks ago.
-ABC News' Shannon Kingston
Nov 05, 2026, 5:02 AM EST
Saudi Arabia intercepts Houthi ballistic missile, military says
Saudi Arabian military spokesperson Col. Turki al-Maliki said on Thursday that Saudi air defenses "intercepted and destroyed" a ballistic missile launched by the Houthi rebels from Yemen toward the Medina region.
Nov 05, 2026, 4:25 AM EST
Tanker attacked off coast of Qatar, UKMTO says
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre reported an attack on a tanker in the Persian Gulf late on Wednesday night.
"A tanker has been struck by two unidentified projectiles," the UKMTO notice issued on Thursday morning said. The incident occurred around 50 nautical miles north of the Qatari city of Madinat ash Shamal, it added.
"The status of the crew, damage assessment and environmental impact are unconfirmed at present," it added.
Nov 04, 2026, 6:19 AM EST
Khamenei says US suffering 'irreversible decline' amid war
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on Wednesday that U.S. military and soft power had suffered an "irreversible decline" in the ongoing conflict with Tehran in the Middle East.
In a series of statements posted to Telegram, Khamenei -- who has not been seen in public since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran in February -- said that American "unhindered presence and dominance in the region is nothing more than a pipe dream."
The statements were released on Wednesday to mark the 47th anniversary of the storming of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979.
Iranians hold an anti-U.S. placard and a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during a rally in front of the former U.S. embassy to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, in Tehran on Nov. 4, 2026.
Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images
"Currently, the scene in the Persian Gulf, particularly the Strait of Hormuz, continues to demonstrate the fallacy of the myth of American invincibility," Khamenei's statements read. Iran's response to the U.S. attack, he added, "represented an initial act of defiance against global arrogance on a regional scale, which will take on a much larger dimension if these transgressions are repeated."
"The slightest inclination towards surrender will embolden the arrogant enemy," Khamenei said, urging stronger deterrence measures by Tehran.
Anyone with "even the slightest hope" that the U.S. would change its approach "through partisan or factional shifts" is "seriously mistaken," he continued.
"The power and hegemony of the United States, in both its hard military power and its soft international influence, have suffered an irreversible decline, and the process of its collapse is accelerating," Khamenei said, describing the damage as "self-inflicted."
