Iranian-backed Houthi rebels renew attacks on Yemen
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels renewed their attacks Tuesday on Government-controlled areas in Yemen as ongoing violence threatened to reignite the country’s civil war and raised fears over new threats to shipping lanes.
Iran’s foreign minister, meanwhile, underscored Tehran’s stance against reopening the Strait of Hormuz until the US meets its conditions, in comments that came after US President Donald Trump said he was now demanding compensation from Iran “for all of the people that they have killed” in the past.
Houthis hit targets in central Yemen
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked the Government-held port city of Mokha on the Red Sea coast and other areas of the country, deepening fears over threats to strategic shipping routes and a potential return to civil war.
Yemen’s military said the rebels targeted both Mokha and the central province of Marib with missiles and drones but did not provide further details.
The Houthis struck Marib and the eastern province of Hadramout last week, killing dozens of Government troops and civilians. They hit Mokha with missiles and drones over the weekend and killed at least seven people, including three troops, according to the Yemeni military.
Mokha is a main port under Yemen’s internationally recognized Government and has been renovated to handle shipping to avoid the Houthi-held port of Hodeida.
The strikes came as part of a recent escalation by the Houthis against Government forces in Yemen and oil facilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia, which supports the internationally recognised Yemeni Government, and the kingdom’s shipping in the Red Sea. 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 to open oceans. The Houthi attacks could reignite Yemen’s civil war after a four-year hiatus following a 2022 truce, and open a new front in the Middle East war.
Iranian FM underline’s Tehran’s demands
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Iran 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 its demands that the US end its blockade of Iranian ports and fulfill other conditions before Tehran will consider reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
The closure of the key waterway — through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil supplies passed before the war — has kept energy prices a major focus of US politics ahead of November’s midterm elections. Araghchi said on his Telegram channel that in a call with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul late Monday, he had “emphasised that making the Strait of Hormuz secure requires an end to the United States’ aggressive actions and unlawful interventions, including the naval blockade and other violations of US obligations.”
Wadephul said on X that he had emphasized, “the Strait of Hormuz needs to be opened unconditionally ensuring free and safe navigation for all.” Trump said, directing his negotiators to include “compensation from Iran, for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts.” That was after Iran demanded compensation for the devastation caused to the country by the US and Israeli bombardment over the past five months.
