Western trade route at risk as Houthis escalate attacks on Israel

Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for a second attack, which was launched on southern Israel earlier today.

A Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson said the group conducted ‘a barrage of cruise missiles and drones’ targeting ‘several vital [Israeli] military sites.

The spokesperson added that the airstrikes ‘coincided’ with Hezbollah and Iran’s military operations and ‘successfully achieved its objectives’.

The Houthi rebels in Yemen could cause further turmoil to global shipping by effectively closing the Suez Canal, experts have warned.

The terror group, backed by Iran, entered the war between Tehran and the US and Israel overnight with a missile attack towards Tel Aviv.

It is feared the militia could make a return to striking ships after attacking multiple vessels in the Red Sea during the war in Gaza.

An obvious target would be the Bab al-Mandab Strait off the coast of Yemen, a key choke point for sea traffic towards the ​Suez Canal.

Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said today the Houthis have ‘significant power’. He added:

If they decided to move to shut down Bab al-Mandeb strait, the Red Sea and, ultimately, the Suez Canal, then we would have two major choke points [closed] along with the Strait of Hormuz.

These are major international shipping waterways for international trade, so I think it can be very significant from that standpoint.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have entered the conflict in the Middle East and launched a missile attack on Israel.

The terror group’s strike raises the prospects of a broader regional confrontation, as well as an increased threat to shipping in the region.

The group said the attack with a barrage of missiles came after continued targeting of infrastructure in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories, adding that their operations would continue until the ‘aggression’ on all fronts ends.

On Friday, Brig Gen Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, said the rebels could join the war on behalf of Iran if attacks on the country did not cease.

‘We affirm that our fingers are on the trigger for direct military intervention in any of the following cases,’ Saree said. They included the ‘continuation of the escalation against the Islamic Republic and the Axis of Jihad and Resistance, as dictated by the theatre of military operations.’

The group has now said it will remain in the conflict until all its goals are met.

There are fears that the move could see wider attacks on shipping in the region and even the closure of the Red Sea, in addition to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthis previously launched strikes against vessels in the Red Sea during the height of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Oman’s foreign ministry said on Sunday that it condemns attacks on its territory, adding that no party has claimed responsibility.

It said authorities were investigating the attacks’ ‘sources and motives’ without providing further details or specifying any specific attack.

Oman said on Saturday that a worker was injured in a drone attack on the Gulf country’s Salalah port and Danish container shipping group Maersk said later that it temporarily halted its operations at the port after Saturday’s attack.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that they targeted a U.S. support vessel at a ‘considerable’ distance from Salalah port, Iranian media reported.

‘As we have previously stated, the national sovereignty of our brotherly and friendly country Oman is respected by the Islamic Republic of Iran,’ it added.

On March 11, drones struck oil storage facilities at Salalah port.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Oman’s sultan in a phone call that the incident would be investigated.

The US Central Command said the warship USS Tripoli has arrived in the region.

The ship carries around 3,500 sailors and marines, along with transport, strike fighter aircraft and assault and tactical assets.

CENTCOM said they arrived in the ‘area of responsibility’ on Friday.

It came as the Washington Post reported that the Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran – however, it said it’s unclear if they will be approved by President Donald Trump.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio told reporters on Friday that the war will end in weeks, not months, and the US doesn’t need boots on the ground to win the war.

Seafarers’ helplines are overwhelmed with calls from sea crews stuck in the Gulf by the war in Iran, the Guardian reported.

‘Writing to urgently inform you that our vessel is currently facing a critical situation regarding provisions and one crew health conditions,’ one crew member wrote on March 24.

‘Immediate supply of food, drinking water, basic necessities is required to sustain the crew.’

The International Transport Workers’ Federation Seafarer Support team has received more than 1,000 emails and messages from crews stuck at sea, waiting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz and the surrounding region, according to the outlet.

The human rights monitoring group, Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it documented the highest number of attacks of Iran in a single day since the beginning of the war.

The group reported 701 strikes in 24 hours on Saturday, leaving at least 24 civilians dead and 88 injured, the New York Times reported.

According to the group, the number is the highest since the start of the war on February 28.

Three-quarters of the strikes were on Tehran, the NYT reported.

HRANA recorded at least 1,551 civilian deaths, including 236 children, since the start of the war, according to the outlet.

Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt are set to attend talks in Islamabad to end the war between the US and Iran, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Dr Badr Abdelatty arrived in Islamabad on an official visit at Dar’s invitation, according to a post on X by the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

‘During the visit, he will hold consultations on regional developments and call on the Prime Minister. The visit reflects the close and brotherly relations between Pakistan and Egypt and their continued coordination on regional and international issues.’

The Foreign Minister of Turkey Hakan Fidan also arrived with the Foreign Minister’s of Saudi Arabia and Egypt for ‘consultations on efforts aimed at de-escalation in the region.’

‘FM Fidan will hold bilateral talks with the DPM/FM on bilateral and other key issues,’ the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Iranian Red Crescent rescuers have been searching through debris in the streets of Tehran following a strike on the capital on Saturday.

Footage showed rescuers sifting through the rubble in search of trapped survivors.

Buildings and cars were seen to have sustained damage in the attacks.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed another wave of strikes on Tehran on Saturday on social media.

‘Yesterday, the Israeli Air Force, acting on IDF Intelligence, completed a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran,’ the IDF said on Telegram.

‘As part of the strikes, the IDF has deepened the degradation of the regime’s weapons production infrastructure, targeting dozens of weapons storage and production sites.

‘In recent days, the IDF identified that the Iranian regime had begun relocating its command centers to mobile units, after most of its command centers were struck by the IDF over the past month, as part of Operation Roaring Lion. As part of the wave of strikes, the IDF dismantled several temporary command centers, including commanders who were operating within those headquarters.

‘In addition, the IDF struck ballistic missile production and storage facilities, aerial defense systems, and observation posts of the Iranian regime.

‘The completed strikes are part of the effort to further degrade the Iranian terror regime’s core systems and capabilities.’

The Israeli military announced the death of a 22-year-old soldier in combat in south Lebanon.

‘During the incident in which Sergeant Moshe Yitzchak HaCohen Katz fell, three IDF soldiers were moderately injured,’ the IDF announced on Telegram.

Katz, 22, was from New Haven, Connecticut of the 890th battalion, Paratroppers Bridage, according to the Israeli military’s announcement.

‘The soldiers were evacuated to receive medical treatment at the hospital, and their families have been notified.’

The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defense announced that its Air Defenses had activated amid Iranian missile attacks.

‘UAE Air Defenses system are actively engaging with missiles and [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle] threats,’ the ministry said in a release on X.

The ministry of defense said that any ‘sounds heard across the country are the result of ongoing engaging operations of missiles and UAV’s.’