Iran is deliberately dragging out peace talks to deny Trump a political victory before the November 3 midterms, according to senior Iranian officials.

Source: Reuters

🛢️ Oil prices rose today, with Brent crude climbing about 1.8% to around $111 a barrel, near five-month highs.

U.S. benchmark WTI rose about 2% to around $100.50.

Prices were driven by Houthi claims of attacks on Saudi energy sites, including Aramco facilities at Yanbu and the Shaybah oilfield, and reports of a tanker hitting a mine near the Strait of Hormuz.

Those risks outweighed the Trump administration’s recent easing of sanctions on Russian energy exports, with Brent up roughly 80% over the past year.

UKMTO reported an incident involving a tanker and military forces approximately 121 nautical miles east of Duqm, Oman, on October 19.

UKMTO said the tanker was involved in an interaction linked to ongoing military activity in the region.

BIG: Libya's eastern-based House of Representatives voted to approve the 2019 maritime agreement with Türkiye and reverse its 2020 boycott of Ankara.

The deal, signed by President Erdogan and then-Tripoli government head Fayez al-Sarraj, defines maritime zones in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The eastern parliament, aligned with Khalifa Haftar, had previously declared it null and void.

The shift follows the election earlier this month of a new speaker who once chaired a Libyan-Turkish friendship committee, and growing Turkish outreach to eastern Libya.

The approval could clear the way for expanded Turkish offshore exploration in Libyan waters.

Ryanair CEO Calls Von Der Leyen 'Useless' Over EU Aviation Taxes

Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary accused Brussels of undermining European aviation by taxing intra-EU flights while exempting U.S. and Chinese carriers from equivalent carbon charges.

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Polish PM Donald Tusk:

I want these words to reach our allies, so that never again will anyone underestimate the efforts of our soldiers wherever our allies, including our closest ally, the Americans, needed our participation.

Wherever they were needed, Polish soldiers and Poland stood shoulder to shoulder with them. That is how we understand loyalty and allied obligations.

And it is deeply wrong when someone belittles such a commitment by Polish soldiers, especially when that commitment has cost some of them their lives.

Polish PM Donald Tusk:

Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner will be meeting in Oslo — the negotiators, if we can call them that, from the American side — who will also travel to Moscow afterward.

They will also meet with President Zelensky and his team.

Details of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have emerged after the 16-article text was submitted to the Turkish parliament:

Collective defense — An attack on one member will be treated as an attack on all.

Logistics — Members will provide each other logistical support, including weapons, ammunition and equipment.

Intelligence — The countries will share intelligence with each other but not with third parties.

Defense industry — Close cooperation in defense and security, with joint production encouraged.

Technology — Joint R&D and innovation projects in advanced technology fields.

Military readiness — Joint exercises and training to boost operational readiness.

Defense Committee — A committee including the three countries' foreign and defense ministers will be set up.

New members — Any new member will need the approval of all three countries.

Duration — The agreement will last 10 years, after which any country can withdraw.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog's motorcade in Hungary has been forced to travel without Israeli flags for security reasons.

NEW: Israeli forces have begun moving military equipment to the Jabal al-Arab summit in Syria's Sweida province to set up a base, possibly including radar systems, a local source told Syria 360.

According to the source, dozens of Israeli military helicopters have carried large amounts of weapons, equipment and advanced devices to the area over the past 72 hours.

Local Druze authorities have reportedly banned civilians from approaching or photographing the sites.

US Envoy to the UN Mike Waltz:

You're seeing a culmination of all these movements that see an opportunity now to sow chaos, disorder, and push their leftist agenda.

And France is just the first to fall.

NEW: Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski says Poland has no spare Patriot missiles to send Ukraine.

Poland urges other NATO countries with available stocks to help.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Al Hashmi:

If anyone on the Iranian side honestly asked themselves and reconsidered their calculations:

Who suffers the most every time a mine explodes in the Strait of Hormuz?

Who suffers the most when an oil spill occurs from a vessel? Who suffers the most if internet cables are cut?

Will it be the United States, separated from the Strait of Hormuz by a vast ocean? Will it be Israel, which does not depend on Gulf waters?

Or will the greatest victims be the countries of the region, including the Iranian people themselves?

Mexico arrested former Chihuahua attorney general César Jáuregui for allegedly allowing CIA agents to join a drug-lab raid without federal authorization.

Two CIA agents and two Mexican officials died in a car crash after the April operation.

The case has sparked tensions over unauthorized US intelligence activities in Mexico.

Source: CNN

Qatar's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Al Hashmi:

Despair is unacceptable. As mediators, we cannot reach a point where we believe that a military solution is the only possibility.

We must keep in mind that a peaceful solution at the negotiating table is possible.

It is the only solution that can preserve the region and its stability, and we must work toward achieving it with every possible effort.

Dr. Betül Doğan Akkaş | Political Scientist & Gulf Researcher | Ankara University:
 

The Mecca Pact could eventually lead to a joint Turkish-Pakistani military base in Saudi Arabia.
 
The Houthis’ drone & missile capabilities have gone beyond what Iran provided - suggesting possible outside support.
 
For peace in Yemen, the Houthis must stop destroying local infrastructure, taxing the poor population & fragmenting Yemeni politics.
 
Türkiye, Saudi, Pakistan & others are working to build a regional security framework that originates from within the region.

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