Two pilots were wounded after they reportedly fought on board the plane they were flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv, and which was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

The flydubai plane landed in Tabuk "at 9:45 am (0645 GMT) and its captain and copilot were found to have injuries and were transported to hospital", a statement from the company operating the airport said.

One of the pilots of an Israel-bound flydubai flight tried to kill his co-pilot, a passenger's mother told AFP.

Yasmin Abukasis, whose daughter Miryam was on the flight said her daughter told her by telephone after landing that everyone "thought they were going to die".

"She said one pilot tried to kill the other pilot with a knife. They heard shouting, 'Help, help!' And one woman with three children went to the (cockpit) and saw a lot of blood," she said as she waited at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.

A British maritime agency said that unknown projectiles struck three ships in the Strait of Hormuz the previous day.

A crude oil tanker, LNG tanker and a third vessel had each "been struck by an unknown projectile", the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) said, without elaborating.

Lebanese army says one of the soldiers was seriously wounded after an Israeli attack targeted a military vehicle in southern Lebanon.

China reminded the US and Iran to return to the framework of the Islamabad memorandum of understanding (MoU) and resume dialogue.

Reiterating support for ending disputes through political and diplomatic means, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Beijing hopes that Iran and the United States “will choose peace, recommit themselves to the Islamabad memorandum of understanding, and resume dialogue and negotiations as soon as possible.”

For a brief while on Wednesday morning, reports emerged that a Flydubai flight carrying 150 passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv had been hijacked. The Boeing 737 MAX even sent out a hijacking code.

But the Israeli prime minister’s office later clarified that it was not a case of hijacking. Haaretz said the flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia after an altercation broke out between the pilots.

The region has been on edge for months as a result of the US-Israel war with Iran that has spread to other Middle Eastern countries. Iran has fired missiles and drones at the UAE while the Iranian-backed Houthis have been attacking Saudi oil facilities.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Qatari mediators in Doha on Tuesday night and received US feedback on a proposed seven-day trust-building plan, which he will discuss in Tehran on Wednesday, an official briefed on the talks told Reuters.

The main disagreement is over the sequencing of the plan, which aims to build trust and return to an enhanced version of a US-Iran memorandum of understanding signed in June, the official said.

Iran's judiciary announced that two men were hanged over charges relating to anti-government protests that peaked in January, having begun a month earlier over economic grievances.

The two, Ali Hemmati and Majid Nik-Andish, were found guilty of involvement "in the riots of January that resulted in the martyrdom of four security personnel" in the northeastern city of Mashhad, said the judiciary's Mizan Online website.

It added that they also "inflicted extensive damage on public property by setting fire to shops, banks, buses, etc, and even torching trees". They "were executed by hanging early Wednesday, following the Supreme Court's confirmation of their sentences".

Oil prices rose on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said he would not ease sanctions on Iran, while Qatar pushed for peace talks, after falling in the previous session on a recovery in crude supply from the Middle East.

Brent crude futures rose $1.14, or 1.11%, to $103.73 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude 34 cents, or 0.38%, to $89.72.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Tehran would use all means to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity while continuing to pursue diplomacy to protect its national interests.

He told Iran’s IRIB that Iranians would never abandon their demand for justice and accountability for what he described as “US and Israeli war crimes”.

“Iran has always remained committed to using diplomacy to safeguard its national interests and ensure peace in the region,” Araghchi said.

Washington is renewing attention on a $15 million reward for information that could disrupt the financial networks of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as it steps up economic pressure on Tehran.

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott highlighted the existing offer, part of a broader US effort to obtain information on the IRGC through multimillion-dollar incentives.

In August, Washington offered $10 million for information leading to the identification of five senior IRGC commanders.

Pakistan will use “whatever means are available” to defend Saudi Arabia against Houthis, the country’s defence minister said.

Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif declined to say whether Pakistani forces had already participated in airstrikes.

He said, however, that Pakistan’s military capabilities would be available to Saudi Arabia.

A fire broke out aboard a vessel after it was struck by an unidentified projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Monday evening, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said.

“The fire has since been extinguished and the vessel is under way. Crew is safe,” UKMTO said in a statement.

It said there has been no reported environmental impact or damage assessment.

Iran’s rial fell to a fresh record low against the US dollar, with the free-market rate crossing 2.5 million rials per dollar.

The dollar was quoted at 2.542 million rials, up 3.84 percent from the previous day, according to Pashizi, a website tracking Iran’s free foreign exchange market. It reached an intraday high of 2.548 million rials.

The Lebanese army said that it had received 47 Humvee military vehicles and five trucks as part of US assistance programs for the armed forces.
A military statement said that the vehicles were delivered at Beirut port.

“This grant comes within the framework of US authorities’ support for the military institution, with the aim of strengthening its operational capabilities and raising the readiness of its units,” the statement said.

Saudi Arabia has resumed oil tanker loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting operations on the East-West Pipeline, according to trade sources and shipping data, improving the outlook for oil exports from the Middle East.

The resumption of Yanbu loadings, halted earlier this month after a drone attack on the pipeline, weighed on global oil prices on Monday as it added to signs of increased flows from the Middle East, from which the US war with Iran has throttled oil shipments.

The move follows reports that Washington will grant a one-month Treasury waiver allowing Iraqi Airways to fly the Iran–Najaf route, with a permanent exemption possibly next.

Qatar said it is relaying messages between the US and Iran as part of its mediation efforts to end their war.

“Qatar’s mediation efforts are ongoing, and we are currently relaying messages between the American and Iranian sides,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari told a press conference in Doha.

Asked about the possibility of a large-scale US military attack on Iran, Ansari said: “We are concerned about any escalation in the region and are working to find a peaceful solution.”

The US administration said it is offering to loan energy companies 40 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, in an effort to control soaring fuel prices that have jumped on the widening war with Iran and Russia's war with Ukraine.

The United States agreed in March to loan 172 million barrels of oil from the SPR as part of a wider deal with about 30 countries in the International Energy Agency to release 400 million barrels.

Russia urged Iran to remain 'a responsible party' to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) following statements from Tehran that it seeks to withdraw from the nuclear treaty.

Speaking to reporters during a press briefing, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow has heard statements on the possibility of Tehran’s withdrawal from the NPT from Ali Nikzad, the Iranian parliament’s deputy speaker, and that these remarks require further clarification.

“We would not want Iran to withdraw from the NPT. We consider the NPT to be the cornerstone of the non-proliferation regime. And we do hope that Iran will remain an important and responsible party to this treaty,” Peskov said.