Coverage of events across the Middle East region.
Saudi Arabia has warned residents in areas near Abha and Khamis Mushait of possible attacks amid escalating fighting between Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces. The warning was later withdrawn, as tensions intensified along the Yemen-Saudi border and around the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Iraq has confirmed that a drone attack targeting Saudi Arabia’s major East-West oil pipeline was launched from Maysan province, prompting Baghdad to remove a military commander and launch an investigation. Saudi Arabia has temporarily shut the pipeline, while pressure mounts on Iraq to act against Iranian-backed militias.
Iran-backed Houthi forces have seized Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline and three strategic islands, strengthening their control over the vital Bab al-Mandab Strait. The advance could enhance their ability to target Saudi oil tankers and further disrupt regional maritime trade.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is nearing the “collapse of the regime” in Iran, while Israel’s expanding military presence on Mount Hermon in southern Syria highlights the mountain’s critical strategic, military and water-resource importance.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels have seized control of Yemen’s key port city of Mokha, strengthening their position near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait and raising concerns over international shipping and global energy supplies. The reported takeover comes amid a sharp escalation in regional tensions between Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels say Saudi Arabia has carried out more than 32 airstrikes on their positions in Yemen, following large-scale Houthi attacks that wounded 73 civilians, including women and children, in several Saudi cities.
At least 14 people were killed and 11 others injured in an explosion at a temporary weapons and explosives storage facility near Sarmada in Syria’s Idlib province. Authorities warned that the death toll could rise as rescue teams search the rubble for survivors.
Iran and the United States have sharply escalated military confrontation across the Middle East, with the IRGC claiming attacks on U.S. vessels and oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, while Washington says it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers. Iran also launched ballistic missile attacks toward a U.S.-used base in Jordan.
Rescue teams recovered four more bodies from a Houthi-run prison destroyed in a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in Yemen’s northern Jawf province, raising the death toll to 23, while seven people remain missing. The coalition also resumed airstrikes on Houthi military targets in Jawf and Marib.
Israel has announced retaliatory measures against Britain, including plans to close the British consulate in Jerusalem, end British training for Palestinian security forces and bar 12 British lawmakers and other nationals, following UK restrictions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The US Treasury Department has sanctioned 27 Iranian airlines and several other entities under its “Operation Economic Outcast,” targeting companies accused of supporting Mahan Air and helping Iran maintain access to international financial networks.
A wave of Houthi attacks on southern Saudi Arabia injured 73 people and sparked fires at several oil facilities and utility installations, marking a major escalation amid growing tensions over key regional shipping routes.
