Iranian-backed Houthis kill 4 in attack on vessel, and other developments in the Mideast
Yemeni authorities say four people were killed by Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacking a vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb strait.
Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
Four people were killed Tuesday by Houthis firing missiles on a vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, Yemeni authorities said.
The Transportation Ministry of Yemen’s internationally recognized government said the dead included four Pakistani nationals and an Indonesian. A ministry statement said the Houthis fired three ballistic missiles on the Yemeni commercial vessel.
They are the first known deaths from Houthi attacks on shipping off Yemen in the latest bout of fighting in the Arab country.
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut down by Iran, there has been a renewed focus on the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb strait at Yemen’s southern tip, which is an alternate route for Saudi Arabia to ship its oil.
The deadly vessel strike came amid Houthi attacks on the government-held port city of Mokha on the Red Sea and other areas of the country. Dozens government troops and civilians have been killed in attacks since last week, according to the Yemeni military.
The strikes are part of an escalation by the Houthis against government forces in Yemen and oil facilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni government, and the kingdom’s shipping in the Red Sea.
The Houthi attacks could reignite Yemen’s civil war following a 2022 truce, and open a new front in the Middle East war.
Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Houthis’ chief negotiator and spokesperson, accused Saudi Arabia in a social media post of exploiting the ceasefire to tighten an air and sea blockade it imposed in 2015.
He said the Houthis are open for negotiations but any settlement must include lifting the blockade.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters that the country had “astonished the whole world” in the war against the United States and Israel, proving “that it is a tough and invincible power.”
Iran has refused to back down on demands that the U.S. end its blockade of Iranian ports, lift sanctions on the Islamic Republic and fulfill other conditions before Tehran will consider reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran effectively closed the strait after Israel and the U.S. attacked the country on Feb. 28. Attacks on the key waterway — through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil supplies passed before the war — and uncertainty around its future have kept energy prices a major focus of U.S. politics ahead of November’s midterm elections.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday in an Oval Office exchange with reporters that the U.S. Navy’s blockade is preventing Iran from selling its oil on the international market, effectively choking the Iranian economy.
“Yeah, they can make trouble," Trump said, "but they’re broke.”
Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi traveled Tuesday to Tehran for talks aimed at encouraging Iran to resume negotiations with the United States under an interim peace deal brokered by Pakistan in June, two officials said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media and they provided no further details.
Pakistan’s government had not publicly announced Naqvi’s visit. It is his sixth trip to Iran as part of Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to ease tensions between Iran and the U.S.
—Munir Ahmed in Islamabad
In Syria, a court sentenced former President Bashar Assad along with his younger brother to death for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria’s 14-year conflict that left about half a million people dead.
Assad and his brother Maher, who fled to Russia after insurgents marched into Damascus in December 2024, were sentenced in absentia at the Fourth Criminal Court in the Syrian capital.
___
This story has been corrected to state that Bashar and Maher Assad fled to Russia in 2024, not 2014.
© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
