Iran war: Putin hosting Moscow talks with Qatar’s emir, Iran president

• Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting talks with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the Moscow gas summit. Earlier, Sheikh Tamim met Pezeshkian on the sidelines.
• Iran says an oil tanker caught fire after hitting mines east of the Strait of Hormuz.
• Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, says the US has failed to bring security to any country in the region.
• The Saudi-led coalition says it destroyed two Houthi ballistic missiles targeting Riyadh.

• 8m ago

  (18:45 GMT)

  Yemeni Army accuses Houthis of mutilating soldiers’ bodies

  The Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Majed Abdullah al-Nuzaili accused the Houthi militia of deliberately disfiguring the bodies of government soldiers killed on the Taiz fronts.

  In a statement shared on X, al-Nuzaili said medical staff at a military hospital reported that the bodies received through the International Committee of the Red Cross had been doused with flammable chemicals, had their limbs broken and their features erased.

  Al-Nuzaili said the acts violate Islamic law, Yemeni tribal custom, the Yemeni constitution, the Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law, and amount to war crimes. He cited earlier cases, including the 2020 return of the body of Brigadier General Hussein al-Asimi, commander of the 161st Infantry Brigade, which he said bore signs of torture and acid burns.

  He called on the United Nations and human rights groups to open an independent investigation, and urged Yemeni scholars and tribal leaders, including in Houthi-held areas, to condemn the acts.

  The spokesman’s claims have not been independently verified, and there was no immediate Houthi response.
• 23m ago

  (18:30 GMT)

  WATCH: Iran says US ‘not serious’ about talks amid Tehran meeting

  Officials from Iran, Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia held talks in Tehran on Monday in an effort to stop further escalation.

  Watch our video below for more: 

  

  1:19

  Iran says US ‘not serious’ about talks amid Tehran meeting
• 38m ago

  (18:15 GMT)

  

  ‘Energy summit is about defusing tensions, not a deal’

  Mehran Kamrava, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar and director of Iranian studies at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, said the energy summit bringing together Russian President Vladimir Putin, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian matters because all three countries have a great deal at stake in the US-Israeli war on Iran.

  In conversation with Al Jazeera, Kamrava said the meeting is essentially about defusing tensions, and that it may be too early to discuss an agreement.

  He warned that, with elections underway in Israel and approaching in the United States, steps must be taken to ensure that neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor Donald Trump diverts public attention for political gain.

  “If PM Netanyahu loses these elections, then the chances of attacking Iran are much greater,” he said.

  The immediate task, he said, is to lower tensions and reduce attention on the conflict, before discussing the “broad lines of an agreement” with the Americans.

• 53m ago

  (18:00 GMT)

  Russia should not be left out of the global gas market, says Putin

  

  By Yulia Shapovalova

  Reporting from Moscow, Russia

  We’re hearing that natural gas will play a growing role in the world because global gas prices have risen sharply. But prices may fall if countries join forces and geopolitical obstacles are removed.

  According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the main problem in the global gas market today is supply disruption. Significant volumes of gas have been removed from the market while demand remains stable. Replacing the lost volumes and revising logistics is a complex task, Putin said, and solving it requires developing transport routes with all gas-exporting countries.

  Russia is hosting this summit today, which signals that it remains a principal player in the global energy market and can form alliances outside the Western world. Russia ranks first in natural gas reserves and is the world’s second-largest natural gas producer.

  Pipeline gas exports have recently dropped significantly, and Putin has called disruptions to routes to Europe “direct terrorist acts.” Despite all that, he said, Russia remains a responsible gas supplier and partner. Any attempt to exclude Russia from the global gas market has had serious consequences, he said, pointing to Europe, which he claimed has damaged its own industries and social sphere by refusing Russian energy.

  Putin added that Russia is exploring joint work with the United States in the resource-rich Arctic, where gas, oil and mineral extraction is particularly difficult and requires a combined effort.
• 1h ago

  (17:45 GMT)

  Putin: Qatar, Russian cooperation deepens, especially given Doha’s ‘important’ role as mediator

  Following his meeting with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Russia’s President Putin says that Qatar plays an important role mediating conflict between countries, especially in the Gulf region.

  • Here are a few more of the key points he made:
  • Trade exchange between Russia and Qatar has witnessed noticeable growth
  • Stability in the energy market depends on effective coordination between Russia and Qatar
  • Russia is ready to do everything in its power to resolve the complex situation in the Middle East
  • Russia and Qatar are expanding humanitarian and cultural ties, with tourism between the two countries also increasing
  • The US-Iran memorandum signed in Islamabad remains relevant to efforts to settle the conflict
  • Russia has supported a ceasefire since the beginning of the conflict involving Iran and continues to advocate a political and diplomatic solution
• 1h ago

  (17:33 GMT)

  

  Qatar’s emir says relations with Russia have witnessed ‘significant development’

  Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has met with Russia’s President Putin, after which he said that “Russian-Qatari relations have witnessed significant development in the past 10 years”.

  “Our region is going through difficult circumstances due to the tension between the United States of America and Iran,” he said, adding that “The humanitarian tragedy in Gaza is still ongoing.”

  

  Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani during the 8th Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit at the World Trade Center in Moscow on October 27, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov/Pool via AFP]
• 1h ago

  (17:15 GMT)

  Iran’s Pezeshkian confirms meeting with Russia’s Putin

  Iranian state media reports a statement from President Pezeshkian, confirming his meeting moments ago with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Moscow.

  The statement says the pair “discussed the latest developments in bilateral relations and ways to strengthen cooperation”, according to IRNA.

  “During the meeting, both sides, while reviewing the existing potential for developing relations between Tehran and Moscow, emphasized the need to expand cooperation in various political, economic, and commercial fields”, the statement continued.

  “Energy cooperation, the development of interactions in the oil and gas sector, increased economic exchanges, and the utilization of mutual capabilities to advance joint projects were among the key topics discussed by the Presidents of Iran and Russia.”

  

  Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attend a meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow [Igor Ivanko/Pool via Reuters]