Iran says it will not let U.S. warships into the Gulf as Trump floats another round of strikes

Iran's armed forces chief of staff, Ali Abdollahi, said Oct. 24, "We will not allow U.S. military ships in the Persian Gulf under any circumstances and at any time," and that Trump "will take that dream to his grave," CBS News reported. Al Jazeera reported that Iran's forces say they are ready to fire on U.S. warships, and that the Revolutionary Guard said two supertankers struck mines on Friday, after claiming seven tankers were attacked or hit mines overnight into Thursday.

At a Florida rally Friday, Trump said the U.S. military "may do another Epic Fury," referring to the bombing campaign that opened the war on Feb. 28, Al Jazeera reported. U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said, "Could there be a strike this weekend? Absolutely," CBS reported, noting Trump has said strikes would wait until after the Nov. 3 midterms. Guard spokesman Hossein Mohebbi called the threats "largely for media consumption" and said Iran would answer any new strikes with a far larger response, and President Masoud Pezeshkian said many Iranians are struggling to afford food and called for an end to a "state of neither war nor peace," according to CBS.

Yemen's Houthis said they launched new attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting three airports including Riyadh's King Khalid International, after blaming Saudi strikes they said killed 17 people, CBS reported; Riyadh's airport said it would resume flights Sunday. The State Department updated travel advisories for 14 Middle East countries, CBS reported. On Wall Street, the Dow fell 652.82 points, or 1.2%, on Friday to 52,215.16, and the S&P 500 fell 0.5%, according to Associated Press figures.