All posts tagged: Houthi rebels

Bab al-Mandab strait: Iran’s Houthi allies enter the conflict, raising fears over key trade route

Bab al-Mandab strait: Iran’s Houthi allies enter the conflict, raising fears over key trade route

Published by Sam Flores

Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel on Monday as Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis carried out their second attack since the start of the US-Israeli war, with the Israeli military saying two drones launched from Yemen were intercepted early on the morning of March 30. The Houthis entered the conflict for the first time two days earlier, firing missiles at Israel on Saturday in an escalation that has raised fears they could also move to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea, sending oil prices – already up more than 50 percent in a month – even higher. Following the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, Iran has repeatedly threatened to target the Bab al-Mandeb strait in the Gulf of Aden, south of the Red Sea. “Insecurity in other straits, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Red Sea, is one of the options” for resisting US threats, an Iranian military source told Tasnim, an Iranian news agency, on March 21. A response to US threats Iran will broaden its retaliatory measures if the United States or Israel were to launch a ground offensive in the region, Tasnim reported. Military retaliation still appears to be …

Houthi attacks on Israel open new front in Mideast war, threaten Red Sea shipping

Houthi attacks on Israel open new front in Mideast war, threaten Red Sea shipping

Published by Sam Flores

A new actor has stepped into a war already being waged on multiple fronts: Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who launched their first missile in months at Israel on Saturday. After the Middle East war broke out, the Houthis had voiced support for their ally in the face of a US-Israeli offensive, refraining from taking part while warning they had their fingers “on the trigger”. On Saturday, they pulled it, announcing they had fired missiles and drones at Israeli military sites. Israel reported detecting a missile launch from Yemen and said it was working to intercept it. Read moreYemen’s Houthis launch ballistic missile at Israel as Middle East conflict escalates The group’s entry into the conflict “marks a serious and deeply concerning escalation”, said Farea Al Muslimi, a research fellow at Chatham House. Houthi involvement risks “widening an already volatile war, with significant implications”, especially for regional stability and global trade, he told AFP. Here are the possible repercussions. An expected move Analysts had long predicted the Houthis – who have controlled large parts of Yemen, …

Yemen’s Houthis launch ballistic missile at Israel as Middle East conflict escalates

Yemen’s Houthis launch ballistic missile at Israel as Middle East conflict escalates

Published by Sam Flores

Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced their entry into the Middle East war on Saturday by launching a ballistic missile towards Israel, as the world struggled to contain the economic damage of a conflict now entering its second month. The intervention of Iran’s Yemeni allies in Tehran’s conflict with Israel and the United States will spark concern about disruptions to Red Sea shipping, with trade from the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz already choked off. With Hormuz all but impassable, many shipments to and from the region go through the Omani port of Salalah, on the Arabian Sea, but Danish shipping giant Maersk said operations had been temporarily suspended there after a drone attack injured one worker and damaged a crane. Pakistan, which has been a go-between between US and Iranian officials, is to host foreign ministers from regional powers Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt in Islamabad on Monday for talks on the crisis. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has thanked Islamabad “for its mediation efforts to stop the aggression”, and Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul had …

What could Houthi involvement in the Iran war mean?

What could Houthi involvement in the Iran war mean?

Published by Sam Flores

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels entered the month-old war in the Middle East on Saturday by claiming a missile launch that Israel said it intercepted. The Houthis’ entry could further hurt global shipping if they again target vessels in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off the Red Sea. FRANCE 24’s Kethevane Gorjestani brings you this analysis. Keywords for this article Source link

As other Iran‑allied groups are engaging in the Mideast war, Yemen’s Houthis hold back

As other Iran‑allied groups are engaging in the Mideast war, Yemen’s Houthis hold back

Published by Sam Flores

CAIRO (AP) — Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have so far remained on the sidelines as the Iran war widens across the Middle East, raising questions about why — and when the battle-hardened group might join the fight. Iran has retaliated against the United States and Israel with missiles and drones, targeting American military bases and other locations in Gulf Arab countries, disrupting trade routes, choking fuel supplies and threatening regional air traffic. Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, suggested on Thursday in his first written statement since succeeding his father, who was killed in the war’s opening salvo, that Iran may open up new fronts in the conflict — a sign, analysts say, the Houthis may get involved soon. Until now, the Houthis have been reluctant to fight, fearing assassinations of their leaders, internal divisions in Yemen and uncertainties over weapons supplies, the experts said. But that may change as Iran seeks to increase pressure on global oil supply routes through potential attacks by the Houthis, who have had previous success targeting oil facilities …

‘Prime moment for Hezbollah and the Houthis’: US-Israeli strikes on Iran risk igniting regional war

‘Prime moment for Hezbollah and the Houthis’: US-Israeli strikes on Iran risk igniting regional war

Published by Sam Flores

As Iran targeted countries hosting US military bases across the Middle East with retaliatory strikes following a joint US-Israeli bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic, Lebanon’s Prime ​Minister Nawaf Salam had a pointed message for the Tehran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.    Read more  Live: Iran fires retaliatory missiles at Israel, US bases after air strikes “In light of the ​serious developments unfolding ‌in the region, I once again call on all ‌Lebanese to act with wisdom ​and patriotism, placing Lebanon and the Lebanese people’s interests above any ​other consideration,” he ​said. “I reiterate that ​we will not accept anyone dragging the country into adventures that threaten its ⁠security and unity.”  As the world waits to see whether Iran’s allies across the region join in a conflict that already risks engulfing the Middle East, FRANCE 24 spoke to Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at Washington’s Arab Gulf States Institute. Iran supreme leader Khamenei targeted in US-Israeli strikes To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices One …

Scores of Yemen’s separatists killed in clashes with Saudi-backed forces, official says

Scores of Yemen’s separatists killed in clashes with Saudi-backed forces, official says

Published by Sam Flores

At least 80 troops from Yemen’s secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) have been killed in fighting with Saudi-backed forces and strikes since Friday, a military official from the group said on Sunday. At least 152 members of the UAE-backed STC forces were wounded and 130 were taken captive, the official said, giving a preliminary toll of casualties since the start of the Saudi-backed operation. Forces supported by Riyadh began operations on Friday to retake swaths of territory seized by the STC, which is backed by Abu Dhabi, as a struggle for dominance deepened a rift between the two Gulf allies. Read moreYemen is back from the brink, but frenemies Saudi Arabia and UAE have much to negotiate Most of the casualties occurred in strikes by the Saudi-led coalition that targeted military camps held by the separatists, the official said, including Al-Khasha and Barshid military camps in Hadramawt province. An official with the Saudi-backed forces said later on Sunday that at least 14 of their fighters had been killed in fighting and more than 30 wounded …

Saudi-backed forces advance in Yemen’s Hadramawt, military says

Saudi-backed forces advance in Yemen’s Hadramawt, military says

Published by Sam Flores

Saudi-backed troops on Saturday made advances in Yemen’s resource-rich Hadramawt province, military officials said, as confrontations between forces backed by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi deepened a rift between the two Gulf allies. The Saudis and Emiratis have for years supported rival factions in Yemen’s fractious government. But a recent offensive by the UAE-backed secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) to capture Hadramawt angered Riyadh and left the oil-rich regional powers on a collision course. Read moreYemen is back from the brink, but frenemies Saudi Arabia and UAE have much to negotiate In a statement, the military of the Saudi-aligned government announced that “all military and civilian facilities” in Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province, had “been secured” by Riyadh-backed forces. Earlier two government military officials told AFP they had taken control of Mukalla’s principal military base. The Saudi-led coalition has launched repeated warnings and air strikes over the past week, including one on an alleged Emirati arms shipment to the STC. On Friday, a strike on the Al-Khasha military camp in Hadramawt left 20 dead, according …