Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the weekend BRICS summit, amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict, joining a host of foreign dignitaries.
The Houthis have renewed ballistic missile attacks on the coastal area of Ras al-Ara in southern Yemen's Lahij province on Friday, local media reported.
Yemeni news website Al-Masdar Online said the group had “resumed its bombardment of Ras al-Ara with ballistic missiles.” The area, near the strategic Bab el-Mandab Strait, is controlled by government forces and had already been struck earlier that morning. No details were given on casualties or damage, and the Houthis have not commented.
The strikes come amid intensifying fighting since early July, with the Houthis seizing all of Al-Hudaydah province and advancing through Taiz, including the coastal city of Mokha, while government forces have gained ground in northern Al-Jawf.
Yemeni government forces have withdrawn from the island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, two government sources told Reuters on Friday.
The retreat leaves the Houthis in a stronger position to tighten their grip on the strategic waterway. The sources said Houthi fighters had also entered the nearby port city of Dhubab earlier in the day.
The city sits directly opposite Perim, and control of both is seen as central to holding sway over the strait.
Yemen's UN envoy Abdullah al-Saadi has warned the Security Council that the Houthis are attempting to impose a “new reality” in the Red Sea, threatening international shipping through the strategic waterway.
Speaking during an emergency session on Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia on Thursday, Saadi warned of the group gaining control of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, saying: “We are defending Bab al-Mandeb as a matter of international and regional security.”
He called on the Council to condemn the escalation and enforce its arms embargo against the Houthis.
The remarks came amid intensifying clashes between government forces and the Houthis along Yemen's western coast, near the strait. The Houthis have advanced in recent days, and local media reported the group had seized Zuqar Island, though this remains unconfirmed.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Pakistani army chief Asim Munir spoke by phone on Thursday, discussing ways to revive diplomatic efforts aimed at de-escalating Tehran's conflict with the United States, a Pakistani security official told Reuters.
The call focused on the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, the prospects of returning to negotiations, and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, according to the official.
The Pakistani military has not yet responded to a request for comment.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun had a telephone call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Friday and discussed the situation in the Middle East, including freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said.
Gulf foreign ministers plan to meet their Iranian counterpart in a push by Oman and Iran to secure buy-in for a temporary deal to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times has reported.
The gathering is scheduled to be held on Monday in the Omani coastal city of Salalah, the report said, citing two people briefed on the matter.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called U.S President Trump twice on Thursday and urged him to launch strikes against the Houthis, U.S. news website Axios reported, citing two U.S. officials.
Trump rejected the request, and U.S. officials said the administration does not intend to take direct military action against the Iran-backed Houthis at this time, the report said.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has said it destroyed a U.S.-operated naval drone at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC's official news outlet Sepha News reported.
“The IRGC Navy, with the help of God Almighty, hit an enemy unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), with hull number 5838 and a 'Sil-Dron' type, at the entrance to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and thwarted its aggressive mission," the IRGC said in a statement.
Washington meanwhile announced economic sanctions targeting the Iran-backed Shia paramilitary group, Kataib Hezbollah.
“The actions announced today expose the extent to which Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Qods Force has co-opted Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces and exploited commercial networks in Iraq, the UAE, Türkiye, and Lebanon to fund terrorism and evade international sanctions,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement.
Follow for the latest updates from the Middle East conflict.
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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the weekend BRICS summit, amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict, joining a host of foreign dignitaries.
Turkic states are considering the creation of a new law enforcement agency, TURKPOL, as members of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) step up security cooperation.
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