Qatari mediators held talks in Tehran for more than 12 hours on Friday in an effort to reach a deal to restart direct negotiations between the U.S. and Iran and avoid an outbreak of war after the midterms, diplomatic sources told U.S. news portal Axios.

Iran's army warned Saturday that any new U.S. attack would only spread their war wider, following threats by America and Israel of further military action as they hold crucial elections.

Oman said on Friday it had rescued 25 sailors from a merchant ship that was targeted and set ablaze, as Iran reported three oil tankers were halted while crossing the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

A Qatari delegation arrived in Tehran on Friday for talks with Iranian officials, state media reported, as mediators press efforts to revive peace talks with the United States.

According to the IRNA state news agency, the delegation, headed by a senior adviser to Qatar's prime minister, came to discuss "bilateral relations... as well as regional developments" with senior Iranian officials.

The Saudi-led coalition said on Friday it intercepted and destroyed a drone fired by Yemen's Houthis in the Mecca region, with the group later denying it targeted Islam's holiest city.

"A drone launched by the terrorist Houthi militia has been intercepted and destroyed in the Mecca region," coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki wrote in a post on X.

Israel's final election results confirmed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc lost its majority of parliamentary seats and that weeks of difficult negotiations among very different parties, from ultra-Orthodox Jewish to secular to Arab-led, lie ahead.

The results released early Friday showed Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats in Tuesday's elections. The main opposition bloc won 48. Arab-led parties secured the other 19, a historic showing. Now parties must meet, bargain and seek a way to team up for at least 61 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.

For Palestinian citizens of Israel, it was a rare moment of political triumph.

Hundreds of thousands voted in record numbers, giving two Arab-led parties their largest-ever number of seats in Israel's parliament.

Iran said three oil tankers struck mines and caught fire over the past 24 hours while attempting to exit the Strait of Hormuz through an unauthorized route, according to the state broadcaster, which cited the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The report did not identify the tankers or provide details on casualties. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the report. It came as tensions are high in the region over concerns that U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran could resume.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman on Thursday rejected accusations "made by certain Israeli politicians and their contacts in the media" that his country had interfered in the Israeli elections.

"We categorically deny allegations that Qatar has interfered in Israeli elections or funded any activities intended to influence their outcome," said Majed Al Ansari. "They accuse Qatar of buying off Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli political left and now, in this latest campaign, the Arab vote... These accusations are ridiculous and dangerous in equal measure."

The Houthis said on Thursday that a Saudi strike on a residential area in Yemen's western Taiz province killed 12 people, as the two sides exchange fire in the reignited conflict.

"As an initial toll, 12 citizens were killed and three others were critically injured when the Saudi enemy targeted the homes of the families of Ibrahim Saeed Mohammed Ahmed Al-Qouz and Al-Raabi Saeed Mohammed Ahmed Al-Qouz in Al-Barah, Maqbana district," the Houthi health ministry said in a statement shared by their Saba news agency.