Vessel ablaze in Strait of Hormuz as Hegseth fires Pentagon chief planner and Saudi coalition downs Houthi missile

Summary

Middle East Eye's morning update reports several developments on Thursday. The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre received a report of a vessel on fire in the Strait of Hormuz, 9 nautical miles north of Oman's Khasab, and the master of a third-party vessel reported sighting another burning vessel, with the status of its crew unknown. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Pentagon's chief planner, Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia, and the update notes that Sylvia's predecessor, Joseph McGee, was similarly forced to retire. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it intercepted and destroyed an MQ-1 drone east of the Strait of Hormuz, according to state media. US President Donald Trump claimed the US did not start the war on Iran, which the update says Israel and the US launched in late February despite Oman-brokered talks centred on Tehran's nuclear programme. The Saudi-led coalition said it destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis toward Saudi Arabia's eastern region early on Thursday, and Saudi civil defence issued alerts for Najran and the Eastern Province before saying the danger had passed in both areas.

Timeline

1. Middle East Eye

   29 Oct 2026, 07:59 UTCSource ↗

   Middle East Eye's morning update reports a vessel ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz, Hegseth's firing of the Pentagon's chief planner, an IRGC-claimed drone interception, and a Saudi-led coalition interception of a Houthi ballistic missile on Thursday.