Yemen’s Houthi rebels launch missiles at Israel, widening the regional war as the US prepares potential ground operations in Iran and economic disruption intensifies.
TEHRAN: Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have dramatically widened the Middle East conflict by launching missile attacks on Israel. The strikes raise acute fears of the war spreading to the vital Red Sea shipping lane.
The Houthi involvement adds a new layer of complexity to a conflict already engulfing a wide swathe of the region. A spokesman for the group claimed it fired “a barrage of cruise missiles and drones targeting several vital and military sites” in Israel.
Until Saturday, the Houthis had sat out the latest conflict despite the Red Sea’s growing strategic importance. During Israel’s war in Gaza, the group attacked shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in solidarity with Palestinians.
The economic fallout from the wider war remains critical with the Strait of Hormuz all but impassable. Saudi Arabia has rerouted much of its oil exports via the Red Sea to avoid the strategic chokepoint, which Iran says it has closed to shipping from hostile powers.
Many Gulf shipments have been rerouted through Oman’s Salalah port on the Arabian Sea. Danish shipping giant Maersk said operations there were temporarily suspended after a drone attack.
Fire also broke out after Iranian missiles struck the Khalifa Economic Zone in Abu Dhabi, injuring six people. Emirates Global Aluminium reported significant damage at the site.
Fears of a widening conflict intensified as the Washington Post reported the Pentagon is preparing plans for weeks of US ground operations in Iran. The report said the plans could include raids on Kharg Island and sites near the Strait of Hormuz.
President Donald Trump has yet to approve any such deployment. The USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship carrying around 3,500 Marines and sailors, arrived in the Middle East on Friday amid the speculation.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened on Sunday to strike US university campuses in the Middle East. The threat demands Washington officially condemn US-Israeli attacks on two Iranian universities.
Several American institutions operate campuses across the Gulf, including Texas A&M in Qatar and New York University in the UAE. The attacks on Iran continued as Israel’s military said it struck a naval weaponry development facility in Tehran.
An Israeli military spokesman said attacks on Iranian military industry had intensified. “Within a few days, we will complete attacks on all critical components,” the spokesman said.
Air travel has been widely disrupted, with authorities in Kuwait and Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan reporting airport facilities hit in strikes. The United States condemned a drone attack on the residence of Kurdish regional leader Nechirvan Barzani.
Washington blamed Iranian militia proxies in Iraq for the assault, calling it “a direct assault on Iraq’s sovereignty.” Elsewhere in Iraq, a former paramilitary coalition said three fighters were killed in a strike near Kirkuk.
The interior ministry said two police officers died in another strike in Mosul. Both attacks were blamed on the United States and Israel.
Attacks continued in Lebanon, which was drawn into the conflict when Tehran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel. On Saturday, the Israeli military killed three journalists in the south, including prominent Al Manar war correspondent Ali Shoeib.
The Israeli military accused Shoeib of operating within Hezbollah “under the guise of a journalist.” Lebanese authorities, including President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, condemned the killings as war crimes.
Israel also carried out raids in southern Lebanon that killed nine paramedics, according to the health ministry. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky offered his military’s expertise to help defend against Iranian strikes.
He left his war-torn country to sign anti-drone cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. Diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting continue, with Pakistan acting as a go-between for Washington and Tehran.
Pakistan will host foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt in Islamabad on Monday for crisis talks. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian thanked Islamabad “for its mediation efforts to stop the aggression.”
Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Friday he expected a direct US-Iran meeting in Pakistan “very soon.” Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said such a meeting could take place this week, promoting a 15-point plan Washington says “could solve it all.”
The Sun Malaysia
