A Saudi foreign ministry official accused Iran of encouraging the Houthis to intensify their attacks on the kingdom, saying Tehran continues to arm, train and support the group. Three days after the Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers spoke for the first time since the escalation, and after Araghchi offered to help broker Saudi-Yemeni dialogue, it is a direct Saudi attribution of the campaign to Iran. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said King Khalid International Airport had been attacked 20 times since October 1, with at least 17 killed and 333 injured between October 7 and 11 — a coalition figure slightly below the 18 airport deaths Reuters counted for the week.

[RFE/RL] [ABC] [Gulf News]

ABC News, citing sources, reported that the Trump administration was preparing a range of options to target Iran, including the GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb known as the mother of all bombs. The President had not made a decision and is regularly presented with options, the sources said. Trump has pledged no US strikes on Iran before the November 3 midterms; the options reporting is consistent with the Central Command readiness order logged on Day 222. RFE/RL reported Trump saying the United States may have gone too far in killing Iranian leaders, as Iran had replaced them with lower-ranking officials.

[ABC] [RFE/RL]

At least 10 vessels had been struck in and around the Strait of Hormuz since Sunday, October 11 — the most over such a period since the war began — and CBS counted 23 attacks since the start of October, almost double the war’s average monthly rate. A maritime monitor warned ships still face indiscriminate attacks. The State Department said the US military would continue to act against Iran’s attempts to disrupt freedom of navigation, and the UN warned that disruption of fertilizer shipments through the strait could trigger a food crisis.

[Gulf News] [CBS] [RFE/RL]

An attack on the Presidential Palace in Aden, seat of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, killed five people and injured 16, the Yemeni health authority said. No group had claimed it in the reporting reviewed. A German court jailed two people over Iran-linked plots against Jewish targets, naming the IRGC’s Intelligence Organisation, the Quds Force and Iran’s intelligence ministry.

[ABC] [RFE/RL]

Held on Day 229 for timing, now confirmed as an October 13 event: a Houthi missile attack hit Saudi Aramco’s executive headquarters in Dhahran on Tuesday night, causing a limited fire and no injuries, the Saudi energy ministry said. Two regional officials told AP that offices used by the chief executive and other senior officials were damaged. The coalition said it also intercepted a ballistic missile aimed at Dhahran, cruise and ballistic missiles and drones aimed at Riyadh, and a cruise missile aimed at Al-Kharj, home to Prince Sultan Air Base. The Houthis had earlier warned civilians to evacuate Aramco’s headquarters, Riyadh’s airport and an Aramco refinery in Riyadh, calling the sites legitimate targets. The Day 228 brief recorded only Houthi claims about Aramco facilities; this is the confirmed strike.

[Bloomberg] [AP/PBS] [AP/CP24] [Al Jazeera]

Tracker status holds at WAR RESUMED. Day 230 closes the distance between the war’s two fronts: Saudi Arabia now blames Iran for the Houthi campaign that has struck its capital’s airport 20 times and its oil company’s headquarters, while Washington prepares heavy options against Iran for after the November 3 vote. Hormuz has had its worst week. Iran’s reply to the US proposal has still not been reported delivered. No ceasefire is in force.