Iranian military ordered to counter any attack swiftly and without restraint

Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has issued new strategic orders to his military chiefs that they should respond to any military or terrorist attack on Iran with an "immediate, impactful, and geographically unrestricted response".

The orders suggest Iran is prepared to widen the war across the region — and possibly further — if the US and Israel launch a new attack on Iran, further alarming Gulf countries which came under attacks from Iran earlier in the year and which have been urging the United States not to restart conflict with Iran.

The message outlining the orders, which appeared on Khamenei's X account also "expressed his appreciation for the intelligent steadfastness of the Resistance Front in various countries".

The Resistance Front is an Islamist militant organisation and proxy group operating in Jammu and Kashmir.

Mr Khamenei described the "unity of fronts" as a decisive factor with a strategic impact on shaping the new political and security order in West Asia.

Iran's military chiefs have also been ordered to update the "Targets Bank" so that all kinds of tangible and intangible assets of the US and Israel would be within the reach of the armed forces, his statement said.

The orders indicate that Iran would broaden the targets it strikes from predominantly military ones, and that it would instruct its satellite organisations — Hezbollah and Hamas — to also engage.

The orders were issued as reports from Washington suggested US gulf allies had been warned to expect a new assault on Iran as early as Wednesday, November 4, immediately after the US mid-term elections.

The New York Times reported last week that the US and Israel have drawn up joint plans to attack Iran after the November 3 US midterm elections.

Qatar has been attempting to broker negotiations between Iran and the United States, first in meetings in Tehran and now in Doha.

Despite suggestions that representatives from Iran and the US would come to Doha for direct talks, it subsequently emerged that there were no US representatives in Doha for the meetings.

Both the US and Iran have been ramping up their rhetoric in the days leading up to the US midterm elections, due to be held on Monday.

And Mr Khamenei's threats came after it was reported that that the head of United States Central Command (CENTCOM) Admiral Brad Cooper had briefed Mr Trump on options for renewed attacks on attacking Iran, according to The Wall Street Journal.

At the same time,The Washington Post reported that Vice President JD Vance had offered to meet Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in person to negotiate an end to the war.

Saudi Arabia and Türkiye's leaders have urged Trump to give diplomacy with Iran more time, while Netanyahu is lobbying for a joint US-Israeli military operation against Iran immediately after the US midterm elections.

Efforts to open dialogue with Iran 'a positive step'

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that a US effort to open dialogue with Iran is "a positive step", and that talks with Qatari mediators have resulted in reducing the period required to implement Iran's proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz.

"The Qatari side proposed shortening the implementation period of the Iranian proposal to five days. We have reached a proposal at this stage that reduces the implementation period to two days," said Mr Araghchi.

"Our conditions include lifting the sanctions imposed following the Islamabad memorandum and reducing US forces in the region. We demand the restoration of oil waivers and the release of all our frozen funds, including those held in Qatar," Mr Araghchi added.

He said his country does not rule out the possibility of an attack against Iran.

"We do not rule out any possibility regarding the outbreak of war, and we are prepared for all scenarios," Mr Araghchi said.

"We have upgraded our weaponry, addressed our vulnerabilities, and tested new arms; our forces are at the highest level of readiness."

'Supertanker' strikes mine in Hormuz

Iran's Revolutionary Guard says four oil tankers, including a "supertanker" carrying more than two million barrels of oil, hit mines and caught fire while travelling through the Strait of Hormuz.

The IRGC said the tankers suffered explosions on Friday after attempting to use unauthorised routes through the strait.

The Guard's navy claimed the vessels had switched off their navigation and positioning systems and ignored repeated radio warnings. Iran's report did not identify the vessels or provide details about the crews.

Oman said it had evacuated 25 crew members from a Panama-flagged tanker that was attacked in the strait, 1.6 nautical miles off the coast of Musandam Governorate, catching fire. It is unclear whether that incident is related to the fires described by Iran.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre also reported on Friday that a vessel was struck by an "unknown projectile" south of Lavan, an island just off mainland Iran near Shidvar.

The British military organisation, which monitors maritime safety, said the crew was safe.

An Iranian official said two fishermen were missing and two others injured in an attack on two other boats in the strait, blaming the US.

Iran has repeatedly warned that vessels passing through the strait without Tehran's permission would face "destruction."

Tehran has asserted control over much of the waterway since the US and Israel launched the war on February 28.