| → Following a strike on Riyadh’s airport over the weekend, Houthi spokesperson Mohamed al Bukhaiti warned foreign powers against assisting Saudi Arabia in the renewed fighting. The Houthis and President Trump have both confirmed that, in recent indirect discussions, the Houthis pledged to attack only Saudi vessels in the Red Sea. Last week, President Trump reportedly denied Saudi requests to join the fighting. On Monday, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham agreed to assist Saudi Arabia with air-to-air refueling operations. Burnham stated that he would use his upcoming trip to the U.N. to encourage broader regional de-escalation. Critically, the Houthi advance on the Red Sea coast has as of yet failed to completely suppress Saudi oil exports, as the Saudis have successfully shifted a significant volume to export via ship-to-ship transfers in the Strait of Hormuz. This limits the amount of leverage Iran is able to claim following the Houthis’ battlefield successes, which may bolster pro-diplomacy voices in Iran’s leadership. Escalating via the Houthis and closing the Bab al-Mandeb was arguably the key escalation option remaining for Iran to reclaim control over this conflict. Unless Iran can more significantly constrain crude oil exports via both chokepoints simultaneously, it will struggle to dictate terms and force the U.S. into concessions. → On Tuesday, Iranian chief negotiator Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf expressed a willingness to resume diplomatic talks with the U.S., though he did not indicate that Iran was ready to make any concessions on key demands. President Trump and Iranian President Pezeshkian are both in New York for the United Nations General Assembly (U.N.G.A.) this week. Trump is expected to meet with Gulf Cooperation Council (G.C.C.) leadership on the sidelines of U.N.G.A. Talks are likely to focus primarily on securing safe passage for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. Consensus seems to be building across Iran’s leadership that a return to the Memorandum of Understanding (M.O.U.), which would end the U.S. blockade in exchange for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, is in the Islamic Republic’s interest. It is unclear, however, whether Trump is prepared to return to the M.O.U. versus pursuing a broader agreement and/or greater Iranian concessions. International Affairs → On Tuesday, Russia launched a large-scale attack across Ukraine, killing five people and damaging homes, businesses, and infrastructure in multiple regions. Ukrainian forces separately struck Russia’s Kuibyshev oil refinery in Samara, killing one person and causing a large fire. The attacks come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in New York for the U.N.G.A., where he is expected to meet with President Trump and push for de-escalation measures, including a truce on attacks against energy infrastructure and a moratorium on Black Sea strikes. → On Thursday, demonstrators gathered in Minna, in central Nigeria, after 37 suspected illegal miners died while in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (N.S.C.D.C.) during raids on gold-mining sites. Survivors said dozens of detainees had been confined in an overcrowded, poorly ventilated cell with limited access to water, while authorities initially attributed the deaths to disease. Security forces used tear gas and reportedly fired live ammunition during the protests, and authorities subsequently imposed an overnight curfew. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered an investigation. → On Friday, an attack on a mosque inside a police compound in Kohat, northwestern Pakistan, killed 23 people and wounded at least 100. The militant alliance Ittehad-ul Mujahideen Pakistan, linked to commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur, later claimed responsibility for the attack. The assault began when an explosives-laden vehicle detonated outside the mosque during Friday prayers, followed by armed militants entering the compound and engaging security forces in a gunfight that lasted for hours. Eight attackers were killed. The group has ties to Al Qaeda and has been linked by the U.N. to several suicide attacks against Pakistani security forces this year. → On Friday, Spanish police began clearing thousands of migrants from beaches in Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous city on Morocco’s northern coast. In August, approximately 70,000 migrants surged into the small territory in an attempt to gain Spanish asylum. While the vast majority of migrants cleared in the days after the surge, several thousand remain. Spanish authorities transferred them to temporary accommodation at the city’s port, triggering a crowd surge as people competed for limited spaces. Police fired warning shots into the air as officers struggled to contain the crowd, although authorities reported no serious incidents. The new facility has capacity for approximately 1,700 people, despite more than 4,000 migrants who were being transferred there, forcing more than 2,000 people to return to the beaches after it reached capacity. → On Sunday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (C.D.U.) suffered major defeats in state elections. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the C.D.U. received 4.9% of the vote, falling below the threshold for representation in the state parliament for the first time in Germany’s postwar history, while the far-right Alternative for Germany (A.f.D.) finished first. In Berlin, the left-wing Die Linke won the election, pushing the C.D.U. into second place, while the A.f.D. also made gains. Merz described the results as a “disaster” but said he would remain chancellor and continue pursuing his economic and social reform agenda. → On Monday, Typhoon Dujuan brought heavy rain to Tokyo and surrounding prefectures, killing four people in landslides in Kanagawa and Chiba and leaving six others missing. At the height of the storm, authorities urged 1.9 million people to evacuate, while approximately 50,000 people lost power and hundreds of flights were suspended. Dujuan brought sustained winds of 80.8mph and gusts reaching 120.55mph, forcing the cancellation of major events, including parts of the Rock in Japan festival and Tokyo Game Show. Dujuan is the latest in a series of Pacific storms intensified by the ongoing “super” El Niño; authorities have urged the population to monitor weather updates. Cyber → On Thursday, Revolut confirmed that hackers obtained personal information belonging to approximately 680 of its cryptocurrency customers after compromising an Italian government email account and impersonating officials to request customer data from the company. The attackers reportedly targeted individuals believed to hold significant cryptocurrency assets and are demanding $3 million to prevent the information from being released, although Revolut said it has not received a direct ransom demand. The exposed information reportedly includes sensitive personal details, including residential addresses, prompting some affected customers to raise concerns about their physical safety. Revolut said no customer funds or internal systems were compromised and that it is working with law enforcement and regulators while supporting affected customers. |
A Note From Interfor
→ Interfor’s CEO Don Aviv joins cyber firm OSEC for a webinar on inherited security risk on 9/23 at 2 PM ET.
| Resources: US Department of State Travel Advisories CISA: nation-state cybersecurity threats and other resources for cybersecurity matters. |
To find out more, please reach out to info@interforinternational.com
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