Mideast to suffer vast damage if Iran attacked

Newly appointed Iranian Defence Minister Mehrdad Akhlaghi on Sunday threatened to inflict "enormous damage" on the US and its allies in the Middle East if Washington resumes its military campaign against the country. 
"People can rest assured that they will most likely not dare to attack us," Akhlaghi told reporters shortly after securing parliament's vote of confidence. "If they (the US) do, they themselves and the region will suffer enormous damage."
Iran's parliament approved Mehrdad Akhlaqi Ketabchi as defence minister on Sunday, ending months of interim leadership at the ministry and placing a former defence sector veteran in charge of the country's defence production and procurement apparatus.
In a programme presented to lawmakers, Akhlaqi pledged to rebuild the country's military-industrial infrastructure, accelerate the development of defence technologies and expand cooperation with private-sector companies.
"If the American enemy makes another miscalculation, the response of the valiant Iranian people and the fighters of Islam will be surprising and extensive," he said, adding that Tehran had taken necessary measures to counter the potential use by the US of its "mother of all bombs" against Iran.
Iran's offer to the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days is still on the table, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Iranian media outlets on Sunday.
"Our situation is clear and based on the seven-days proposal presented to the US. They shared comments which we are reviewing, but our proposal is still on the table and if there is any honesty on the US part, which there isn't, the way to reopening the Strait of Hormuz is obvious," Araqchi said while in Baghdad for a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Iran's conditions include, among other demands, the lifting of the US blockade on its ports, the lifting of US sanctions on its oil exports as well as ending hostilities on all regional fronts.
If Washington accepts Tehran's conditions, the strait could reopen within six days, with talks resuming the following day, Araqchi said.
A central point of disagreement has been Washington’s insistence on addressing Iran's nuclear programme from the outset.
An alleged Saudi airstrike in Yemen on Sunday killed at least nine people and wounded 16 others, Houthi media reported, as fighting between the two sides in the country's revived civil war escalates further.
Egypt's parliament on Sunday postponed a vote on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's request to authorise military support for Saudi Arabia, two lawmakers told AFP, with deliberations set to continue on Monday.
The session was convened after Sisi asked lawmakers to approve support for Saudi Arabia's defence if requested by the kingdom, which has come under near-daily attacks from Houthis since early October.
Riyadh's landmark Kingdom Centre skyscraper ordered remote working for office tenants on Sunday as disruption spread from Houthi attacks and the Saudi-led coalition announced its first military deaths since the war reignited.
The 99-storey tower, one of Saudi Arabia's tallest buildings, announced "mandatory" remote working until further notice. No reason was given for the order, but it follows a fresh security alert and two drone interceptions around the capital. 
The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis on Sunday said two pilots were killed when their helicopter crashed near the Yemen border, after the Iran-backed group said it shot the aircraft down.
The coalition blamed a "technical malfunction" for the incident, which inflicted its first military fatalities since the long-running war with the Houthis reignited in July. 
On the other hand, the European Union said Sunday that it "strongly condemns" an attack the previous day by a group of Israeli settlers on visiting European diplomats.
"The EU strongly condemns the latest attacks by violent settlers in the West Bank, including on European diplomats," the foreign service said in a communique.