CAIRO — Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said Saturday they fired missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia in response to Saudi airstrikes on the strategic Red Sea city of Hodeida, in an escalation over vital shipping lanes in the Middle East as the United States and Iran compete for control of the Strait of Hormuz. Brig.
Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes against Houthi targets in the Yemeni port city of Hodeida and a nearby island on Friday, after the Iran-backed group announced a maritime blockade and attacked Saudi ships. Saudi authorities subsequently issued emergency alerts for Jizan province when the Houthis claimed responsibility for a missile attack on the city of Jizan.
However, the deal is already facing criticism in Israel and the United States. When news of the deal emerged on Wednesday, some Israeli politicians argued that Saudi Arabia could become a new nuclear threat in the region. Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons, although it has not publicly acknowledged this, and joined the
Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea after the United States launched its 12th consecutive night of strikes against Iran. Iranian state media said two people were killed in Wednesday’s US strikes and that a tanker truck caught fire in an explosion on a mined road in the Strait
The United States and Saudi Arabia are expected to announce a deal that will allow the Gulf kingdom to develop a civilian nuclear program, according to US media reports. An announcement from US President Donald Trump’s administration is expected on Wednesday, US officials said. The deal could be worth billions of dollars to the United
The Bab al-Mandab Strait, a 32-kilometer-wide (20 mi) waterway located between southwestern Yemen and the Horn of Africa. It connects the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea, which is linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal. Shortly after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Houthis began attacking merchant ships