As Yemen’s warfront shifts at breakneck speed, Houthi fighters are pressing to capture strategic high ground in a bid to sever the Red Sea coastline from remaining territories held by Saudi-backed forces — a push that followed reports US President Donald Trump halted planned US strikes on the group at the last minute.
The Iran-backed Houthis have made a lightning advance this month, stretching the wider Middle East conflict into a new theatre and deepening concerns over global energy supplies.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has repeatedly urged Washington to join the fight in Yemen, but the US has so far rebuffed those appeals.
On Saturday, the Houthis said they fired on Riyadh, where loud booms were followed by columns of smoke visible near the airport.
Saudi Arabia has not commented on what appeared to be the first strikes on the capital since the escalation began.
The New York Times reported that the Trump administration had prepared to launch airstrikes yesterday against the Houthis after fresh pleas from the Saudi crown prince.
But the newspaper said Mr Trump called off the airstrikes at the last minute, even as troops were loading bombs onto aircraft.
The US military’s Central Command referred questions to the White House.
The White House did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Mr Trump spoke yesterday to Rashid al-Alimi, president of Yemen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government, who asked him for US military help, four sources said.
Two of the sources, one Yemeni and one Western, said Mr Trump made no direct pledge of military support during the call.
US refuses visas for Iranian UN delegation – state media
Separately, Iranian state media reported that the United States refused to issue visas for members of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s delegation — including his communications team — ahead of this week’s trip to the UN General Assembly.
Mr Pezeshkian will be the highest-ranking Iranian official to enter the United States since the Middle East war began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.
“In an unprecedented hostile move by the US government, (US President Donald) Trump has denied US visas to certain members of the president’s high-level delegation, including members of his communications team,” state news agency IRNA reported.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will be the highest-ranking Iranian official to enter the United States since the war began
The Mehr news agency also carried the story, citing a spokesperson for the Iranian presidency, and added that Mr Pezeshkian will address the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
US authorities have authorised the Iranian delegation to travel for the UN General Assembly but will, as they did last year, impose restrictions.
The US State Department said Iran’s delegation will not, for instance, be allowed to purchase luxury goods or other items.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is part of the UN delegation, left Iran yesterday evening for a stopover in Qatar.
Iran says it has conveyed to the US — via Qatar as mediator — conditions for reopening the strategic Strait of Hormuz oil and gas shipping route, which it has choked off since the war began.
The United States, in turn, is imposing a counterblockade of Iranian ports.
Iran’s Guards threaten to hit new targets if US attacks
Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned they would strike new targets and bring new weapons into play if the US carries out further attacks on the country.
Nearly seven months into their war, Iran and the US remain in a stalemate, though neither side appears willing to return to full-scale war.
In a statement, a spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the ideological arm of Iran’s military, said “there will certainly be significant changes in our defence and our counteroffensive” in the event of a new US attack.
“We will introduce new weapons with new capabilities into the battlefield, and the world will be surprised,” he said.
“Our targets will not necessarily be the same as before either. We have new targets that have not yet been attacked.”
The Guards also said they were prepared for a “prolonged war”.
On Saturday, the central command of Iran’s military said the US was planning new action against Tehran, according to state television, but it did not elaborate.
Fighting between the US and Iran has eased in recent days after a flare-up at the end of last month, though Tehran continues sporadic attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Both sides are maintaining rival blockades in the waterway in an effort to exert pressure.
Two crew were wounded when an “unknown projectile” hit a tanker Monday in the Strait of Hormuz, where vessels have been under fire during the Middle East war, a maritime agency said.
“Military authorities have informed UKMTO that a tanker conducting an inbound transit was struck by an unknown projectile,” said the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
“Two crew have sustained minor injuries and the vessel is reported to be continuing to its next port of call under its own power,” it added.
British security firm Vanguard Tech said UK-flagged tanker La Stephanie was hit by a drone while sailing towards the Gulf, also reporting minor injuries to two crew members.
