NewzIran appears to be targeting vessels conducting ship-to-ship oil transfers around the Strait of Hormuz, according to a military institute. Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition launched new airstrikes on Tuesday on Yemen’s Houthi-held capital, Sanaa, according to Houthi-run broadcaster Al Masirah and residents.The strikes followed a coalition spokesman’s warning urging residents to evacuate the area. A spokesman for the Iran-backed rebels warned that any attack on Sanaa would draw a “harsh and painful” response against the Saudi capital.Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Tuesday.
Read our full coverage here.Ship-to-ship oil transfers at risk, military institute saysIran appears to be targeting commercial vessels conducting ship-to-ship oil transfers in and near the Strait of Hormuz in order to try to undermine vessels’ ability to move energy through the strait, the Institute for the Study of War said Tuesday.Iran may be developing its anti-ship missile capabilities, the U.S.-based think tank said in a post on X.The U.K.’s Maritime Trade Operations Centre posted on X Monday that at least three vessels had been attacked by unknown projectiles in the strait a day earlier. There were no immediate claims of responsibility.But Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s top security body, told state TV on Saturday that Iranian forces were striking an average of five “smuggling ships” every night.Rezaei appeared to be referring to U.S. efforts to guide oil shipments through the strait before the oil is transferred to larger tankers waiting in the Gulf of Oman.Saudi-led coalition strikes Houthi-controlled Yemeni capitalThe Saudi-led coalition carried out new airstrikes Tuesday on Yemen’s Houthi-held capital, Sanaa, according to Houthi-run broadcaster Al Masirah and local residents.The strikes came shortly after a coalition spokesman urged residents to evacuate the area for their safety.
Witnesses in Sanaa reported hearing explosions, but it was not immediately clear what was hit.Earlier, Gen. Yahya Saree, a spokesman for the Iran-backed rebels, warned that any attack on Sanaa would draw a “harsh and painful” response against the Saudi capital.The exchange of threats comes as Saudi Arabiainvestigates why its air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired by the Houthis. An attack on Riyadh’s international airport on Saturday killed at least…
CAIRO (AP) — A coalition of forces in Yemen led by Saudi Arabia carried out new airstrikes Tuesday on the Houthi rebel-held Yemeni capital of Sanaa, the Houthi-run broadcaster Al Masirah and residents said.The strikes marked a fresh escalation in the widening Middle East crisis and came shortly after a coalition spokesman urged residents to evacuate the area for their safety. Witnesses in Sanaa reported hearing explosions. It was not immediately clear which facilities were hit.In a rare statement, the coalition urged civilians in the Houthi-controlled capital to leave the Yemeni Oil Company site and nearby storage areas ahead of a possible strike.Houthi officials appeared to anticipate an attack on the site.
The oil company said its storage facilities were empty and that a Saudi strike would not affect oil reserves or supplies for residents.Shortly after the warning, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Yahya Saree said on Telegram that any Saudi attack on Sanaa would be met with a “firm and painful” response in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.The area to be evacuated, al-Subaha, is on a hill overlooking the capital. It is not a populous area, but the fuel station nearby is used by the public.Witnesses in the city said lines of cars formed at some gas stations amid fears of a gasoline shortage, though the Yemeni Oil Company said the storage facilities in Subaha were empty.What remained unclear was whether the Tuesday strike was a signal of military escalation or a carefully measured response to recent deadly attacks on the Riyadh airport.The warning and the attack show “the Saudis’ aims of upping the ante and striking deep in the heart of Houthi-controlled territory while attempting to control the narrative by presenting themselves as more careful and humanitarian actors than the Houthis,” said Adam Baron, a fellow at the Washington-based New America institute.“It may be a warning -- or it may be a sign of things to come," he said.The back-and-forth threats come as Saudi Arabia is scrambling to determine how its air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired by the Houthis, including an attack on Riyadh's international airport on Saturday that killed at least 13 people and wounded over 300.The latest conflict between the Saudis and the Houthis began last month after the rebels seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical wa…
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