DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 Israel\u2019s military said Yemen had launched a missile toward Israel early Saturday morning, the first time it had faced fire from that country.<\/p>\n
Sirens went off around Beer Sheba and the area near Israel\u2019s main nuclear research center for the third time overnight Friday into Saturday as Iran and Hezbollah continued to fire on Israel overnight.<\/p>\n
The Houthis<\/a>, a rebel group backed by Tehran, have held Yemen\u2019s capital, Sanaa, since 2014. They did not immediately acknowledge launching an attack against Israel.<\/p>\n The Houthis<\/a> so far had stayed out of the war as the rebels have had an uneasy ceasefire for years with Saudi Arabia, which launched a war against the group on behalf of Yemen\u2019s exiled government in 2015.<\/p>\n Attacks on vessels during the Israel-Hamas war upended shipping in the Red Sea<\/a>, through which about $1 trillion worth of goods passed each year before the war. The rebels also fired drones at Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n Israel struck Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities hours after threatening to \u201cescalate and expand\u201d its campaign against Tehran on Friday. Iran vowed to retaliate and struck a base in Saudi Arabia, wounding U.S. service members and damaging planes.<\/p>\n On Friday, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, issued a prerecorded statement outlining several ways the rebels could join the war on behalf of Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cWe affirm that our fingers are on the trigger for direct military intervention in any of the following cases,\u201d Saree said. They included the \u201ccontinuation of the escalation against the Islamic Republic and the Axis of Jihad and Resistance, as dictated by the theatre of military operations.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2024, the Trump administration launched strikes against the Houthis that ended weeks later. The U.S.-led campaign against the Houthi rebels<\/a>, overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war<\/a> in the Gaza Strip, turned into the most intense running sea battle the Navy had faced since World War II<\/p>\n The possible entrance of the Houthis into the war also called into question whether the rebels will again targeted commercial shipping traveling through the Red Sea corridor. The Houthi rebels attacked over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels<\/a> and killing four sailors, from November 2023 until January 2025.<\/p>\n That would cause further chaos in global shipping, which already is reeling from Iran\u2019s stranglehold over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas once passed.<\/p>\n Prior to the attack from Yemen, there appeared to be a breakthrough as Tehran agreed to allow humanitarian aid and agricultural shipments<\/a> through the Strait of Hormuz, accepting a request from the U.N. Ali Bahreini, the country\u2019s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said Iran agreed to \u201cfacilitate and expedite\u201d such movement. <\/p>\n The vital waterway usually handles a fifth of the world\u2019s oil shipments and nearly a third of the world\u2019s fertilizer trade. While markets and governments have largely focused on blocked supplies of oil and natural gas, the restriction of fertilizer ingredients and trade<\/a> threatens farming and food security around the world.<\/p>\n \u201cThis measure reflects Iran\u2019s continued commitment to supporting humanitarian efforts and ensuring that essential aid reaches those in need without delay,\u201d Bahreini said on the social platform X. The U.N. earlier announced a task force to address the ripple effects that the war has had on aid delivery. <\/p>\n The Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base wounded at least 10 American troops, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the situation. Two of them were seriously hurt, according to one of the officials. Both of the officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters. Several refueling aircraft were damaged. <\/p>\n Israel strikes Iranian nuclear facilities<\/p>\n Bahreini\u2019s announcement came just hours after Iranian state media said two nuclear facilities had come under attack. Israel, which had threatened to \u201cescalate and expand\u201d its campaign against Tehran, claimed responsibility, and Iran quickly threatened to retaliate.<\/p>\n \u201cIran will exact HEAVY price for Israeli crimes,\u201d Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said via X.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Atomic Energy Organization said the Shahid Khondab Heavy Water Complex in Arak and the Ardakan yellowcake production plant in Yazd Province were targeted, IRNA reported. The strikes did not cause any casualties and there was no risk of contamination, it said. The Arak plant has not been operational since Israel attacked it last June<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yellowcake is a concentrated form of uranium after impurities are removed from the raw ore. Heavy water is used as a moderator in nuclear reactors.<\/p>\n The Israeli military later said raw materials are processed for enrichment at the Yazd plant and the strike was a major blow to Iran\u2019s nuclear program. <\/p>\n Seyed Majid Moosavi, IRGC\u2019s Aerospace Force commander, said on X that employees of companies tied to the U.S. and Israel should abandon their workplaces: \u201cThis time, the equation will no longer be \u2018an eye for an eye,\u2019 just wait.\u201d <\/p>\n Late Friday, Israeli authorities said Iran had launched missiles at the country that killed a 52-year-old man in Tel Aviv. Sirens alerted people to seek shelter in and around Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Beer Sheba and areas near the country\u2019s main nuclear research center, which were targeted by Iranian strikes that injured dozens last weekend<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump renews call for Israeli-Saudi ties<\/p>\n Speaking in Miami at an event sponsored by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, Trump reiterated his desire for those two countries to normalize relations. <\/p>\n The president has been pressing the two biggest powers in the Middle East on that for years as part of his Abraham Accords efforts, and he said the time will be right when hostilities end with Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s now time,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve now taken them out, and they are out bigly. We got to get into the Abraham Accords.\u201d<\/p>\n Significant headwinds remain, including Saudi Arabia\u2019s insistence that there needs to be a credible path to a Palestinian state before it normalizes commercial and diplomatic ties with Israel.<\/p>\n US pushes diplomatic solution<\/p>\n Word of the attacks on Iran came after Trump claimed that talks on ending the war were going \u201cvery well\u201d and that he had given Tehran more time to reopen the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>. Iran maintains that it has not engaged in any negotiations.<\/p>\n With stock markets reeling<\/a> and economic fallout from the war<\/a> extending far beyond the Middle East, Trump is under growing pressure to end Iran\u2019s chokehold on the strait. <\/p>\n A Gulf Arab bloc said Thursday that Iran has been exacting tolls<\/a> from ships to ensure safe passage.<\/p>\n Trump envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington delivered<\/a> a 15-point \u201caction list\u201d<\/a> to Iran for a possible ceasefire, using Pakistan as an intermediary. It proposes restricting Iran\u2019s nuclear program and reopening the strait. <\/p>\n Iran rejected the offer and presented its own five-point proposal<\/a> that included reparations and recognition of its sovereignty over the waterway.<\/p>\n Trump has said if that Iran doesn\u2019t reopen the strait to all traffic by April 6, he will order the destruction of Iran\u2019s energy plants. <\/p>\n Uncertainty surrounding the conflict prompted a further drop in U.S. stocks Friday. The S&P 500 sank 1.7% to close out its worst week since the Iran war started and its 5th losing week in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.1%. Meanwhile, crude oil prices continued to soar. <\/p>\n With U.S. gas prices approaching $4 a gallon, members of Congress have been pushing to suspend the federal gasoline tax, set at 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel fuel. Trump said he has \u201cthought about\u201d suspending it but suggested states should look at suspending their taxes on fuel.<\/p>\n Attacks appear to intensify early Saturday<\/p>\n Witnesses in eastern Tehran reported a partial power outage following airstrikes. In Israel, loud explosions filled the air in Tel Aviv and emergency crews responded to nearly a dozen impact sites. <\/p>\n An Associated Press journalist heard loud explosions in Tel Aviv, and Israel\u2019s Fire and Rescue Service said it was responding to 11 different impact sites across the metro area. <\/p>\n Defense Minister Israel Katz had earlier vowed that Iran \u201cwill pay heavy, increasing prices for this war crime.\u201d<\/p>\n