Thursday 8 October 2026 07:30 UTC
Pentagon prepares for possible new attacks on Iran
The Pentagon was instructed to prepare for a possible return to large-scale attacks on Iran, potentially with Israel. The White House also requested strike options, but accounts differed on whether action could come before or after the US midterm and Israeli elections. Some Trump allies argued that military action could lower petrol prices and help Republicans. No final decision had been made.
A tanker was hit by multiple projectiles in the Persian Gulf, 51 nautical miles north of Qatar, and casualties were reported. Responsibility was not established. The incident was described as the first attack on a vessel in the Gulf in weeks, while shipping attacks inside the Strait of Hormuz reached their highest level since the war began. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they would soon block southerly routes used to bypass the strait.
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The death toll from the Russian missile strike on an apartment building in Pryluky rose to at least 18, including four children. Dozens were injured, 15 people were rescued and others remained out of contact. Across Ukraine, a combined Russian missile and drone attack killed 25 people and injured 100. Ukraine said it intercepted 44 missiles and suppressed 117 Shahed drones.
Ukrainian drones struck the Sasta machine-tool factory and an adjoining Yandex data centre in Russia’s Ryazan region, causing explosions, a major fire and significant network disruption. The data centre has more than 35 megawatts of capacity and reportedly housed nearly 2,700 Nvidia A100 processors by 2021. Other drones set the Salavat oil refinery ablaze. Russian channels described the wider raid, involving hundreds of drones, as the largest in weeks.