What’s happening with the Houthis and Saudi Arabia?
The Iran-aligned Houthis have been fighting Saudi Arabia for more than a decade as part of the Yemen civil war. But clashes have flared up in recent weeks around the US-Iran conflict.
The Houthis are reasserting control over the Bab el-Mandeb strait, which controls access to the Red Sea, at a time when Iran has all but closed traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to the east. That makes it difficult for countries like US ally Saudi Arabia to export oil, driving up global prices.
In Yemen, the Houthis embarked on a lightning offensive west this week, bringing them closer to the Red Sea and granting them greater control over traffic through the waterway.
Yemeni government sources said that the Houthis had seized the strategic island of Perim on Friday in the middle of the Bab el-Mandeb strait — the “Gate of Tears” at the southern entrance to the Red Sea.
The Houthis also launched attacks in southern cities in Saudi Arabia, causing injuries and damage to energy infrastructure.
In a separate attack, Saudi Arabia’s crucial East-West oil pipeline was struck by a drone from Iraq this week, where Iranian-backed militia operate. Donald Trump said Iran was “probably” behind the attack, without providing evidence.
Washington now faces a dilemma over whether to help their allies fight the Houthis, potentially expanding the deeply unpopular war.
James Reynolds13 September 2026 09:00
Crew of vessel attacked in Hormuz strait evacuated, UKMTO says
A vessel has been struck by an unknown projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said early on Sunday.
The crew were evacuated by local authorities after a fire broke out following the attack, the British navy-affiliated firm said.
James Reynolds13 September 2026 08:53
China accused of handing Iran intel for strike on Jordan air base
Chinese ‘entities’ may have supplied Iran with high-resolution satellite images of a US military base in Jordan ahead of a strike that killed three troops in July, according to a report.
Three soldiers were killed and four injured at the overnight strike at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base on 17 July.
US officials told the Wall Street Journal that the alleged handover of images represented the most clear evidence so far that Chinese support for Iran had had lethal consequences for US forces.
China has repeatedly dismissed Washington’s concerns, refusing to acknowledge that any Chinese companies are engaged in such activity, the officials said.
James Reynolds13 September 2026 08:40
Ed Miliband discusses attacks on Saudi Arabia with counterpart
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said on Saturday he had spoken with Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud this morning and discussed Houthi aggression in Yemen and attacks against Saudi Arabia.
He added that the United Kingdom “stands firmly with Saudi Arabia and the internationally recognised government of Yemen against these attacks.”
James Reynolds13 September 2026 08:31
Iranian commercial vessel struck off Qeshm Island, one killed, three wounded
An Iranian commercial vessel was struck off southern Iran early on Sunday, killing one person and wounding three others, Iranian state media reported, citing the governor of Qeshm County.
Namita Singh13 September 2026 06:15
Foreign ministers of Gulf countries to meet on Monday amid shipping challenge
As global shipping becomes even more challenged, Iran said a regional meeting is planned Monday between the foreign ministers of Gulf countries about talks between Tehran and Oman – located on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz – on managing shipping there.
Commercial ship traffic remains low on what had been considered an international waterway before the war. Iran has expressed interest in having ships pay fees for transit.
Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian reacts as he is greeted inside a hotel, during his visit to India to attend the 18th Brics Summit, in New Delhi, India, 12 September 2026 (Reuters)
It has said traffic into the Persian Gulf would pass through Iranian waters, while the outbound route would pass partly through Iranian waters and partly through Oman’s.
But Iran has said reaching an agreement with Oman on the strait doesn’t mean it will open for shipping.
“The waterway would be opened up on the condition that the US will terminate its blockade,” Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian told Indian broadcaster, India Today. The US military on Saturday said its forces had redirected 100 commercial vessels over the past 60 days.
Bahrain, however, said it will not attend any group meeting including Iran before the restoration of diplomatic relations between the countries.
Namita Singh13 September 2026 06:00
Iraq says attack on Saudi pipeline originated there
Iraq’s government confirmed that attacks that shut down a key Saudi oil pipeline on Thursday had originated from its territory.
An umbrella group of Iran-backed militias in Iraq denied their involvement while praising the Houthis for their “ongoing battlefield victories against Saudi forces”.
Regional officials have told the Associated Press that the Houthis and the Iraqi militias recently coordinated attacks on Saudi oil facilities.
A satellite image shows black smoke rising from an area of Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline south of Medina (Reuters)
As the latest events threaten even higher global oil prices, US president Donald Trump said Iran was “probably” responsible for the pipeline attack, but tried to calm concerns.
“The Houthis called us, and they don’t want to fight with us,” Trump said. “They would much prefer not having us involved, and they’re letting most ships go through.” He said his administration has had “discussions” with the Houthis, but the White House didn’t say when. His administration engaged in at least one round of talks in May 2025.
“We are not in war with Saudi Arabia, and the Houthis have their own problems,” Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian told India Today TV on the sidelines of the Brics summit in India.
Namita Singh13 September 2026 05:46
People fleeing Houthis’ advance in Yemen describe a ‘hysterical panic’
As Houthi rebels backed by Iran swept south along Yemen’s Red Sea coast this week, some residents had little time to flee.
“We set out in hysterical panic on a motorcycle, not knowing where we were heading,” Alaa Ali Salem said.
“The roads suddenly became extremely congested, and while I was driving, the motorcycle overturned. My wife, my children and I were all injured.”
His family and thousands of others, in numbers leaping by the day, are now displaced as the Arab world’s poorest country faces a potential return to a devastating civil war.
Yemen’s Houthi armed forces patrol as Yemeni prisoners loyal to the Houthi authorities arrive in the capital Sanaa on 12 September 2026 (AFP/Getty)
The Houthis’ advance to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea threatens a key global shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has attacked some vessels during more than six months of war.
But on the ground in Yemen, the rebels’ offensive means something very different. It could bring the kind of upheaval that killed 150,000 people and caused near-famine before a 2022 ceasefire.
“This renewed war should alarm us all,” the UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, warned as the Houthis moved south.
Namita Singh13 September 2026 05:32
Iranian official plays down Oman meeting
Iran’s foreign ministry announced on Friday that Iran would be attending a meeting with Gulf Arab states in Oman on Monday, at which the future of the Strait of Hormuz would be discussed.
But a senior Iranian official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity on Saturday, played down the chances of a breakthrough, saying the meeting, called at Oman’s initiative, was intended to discuss issues including the strait but was not expected to yield a signed agreement.
An agreement on routes through the strait between Iran and Oman will be presented at the meeting on Monday, which will also be attended by Iraq, but the strait will not reopen unless seven conditions conveyed by Iran to the US are met, a source told Tasnim news agency, without elaborating.
In a post on X on Saturday, Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, said: “As long as the American side does not accept all of Iran’s conditions, dialogue and negotiation are of no use.”
Iran wants its control of the Strait of Hormuz to be recognised, allowing it to collect fees from ships that use it, which Washington rejects. Oman, which controls the opposite bank of the strait, says it is negotiating with the agreement of other regional states.
Namita Singh13 September 2026 05:00
Saudi leader asks for military help as Trump says Houthis asked him to not get involved
Oil prices shot up over the past week and the retail price of diesel in the United States surged past a record $6 a gallon as the United States and Iran both fired on tankers and the Houthis in Yemen advanced along the Red Sea, potentially extending disruptions to another major oil route.
Washington now faces a dilemma over whether to help the Saudis fight the Houthis, risking further expansion of the war. Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, phoned Trump on Thursday and asked for US military help fighting the Houthis, three sources told Reuters.
US president Donald Trump with his son Eric Trump (PA Wire)
They said the prince was told that Washington would not intervene directly for now but would help with intelligence.
Donald Trump confirmed on Saturday that he had spoken to the crown prince, and said the Houthis had also phoned his administration and asked Washington not to become directly involved in the conflict.
Four Yemeni government sources told Reuters that the Houthis had seized the strategic island of Perim on Friday in the middle of the Bab el-Mandeb strait – the “Gate of Tears” at the mouth of the Red Sea.
Namita Singh13 September 2026 04:40