HOUTHI STRIKES MAY MEAN NEW THREAT TO SHIPPING
The Houthis carried out a second strike on Israel, said Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree, vowing more to come.
The attacks point to a potential new threat to global shipping, already hit by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, previously a conduit for about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
The Houthis have shown an ability to strike targets far beyond Yemen and disrupt shipping lanes around the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea, as they did in support of Hamas in the Gaza war.
If the Houthis expand their new front in the conflict, one target could be the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off the coast of Yemen, a choke point for sea traffic towards the Suez Canal.
With US midterm elections due in November, the increasingly unpopular war has weighed on Trump’s Republican Party. He has appeared eager to end it soon, while also threatening escalation.
Demonstrators took to city streets across the US on Saturday in anti-Trump rallies described by organisers as a call to action against the war on Iran.
Trump has threatened to hit Iranian power stations and other energy infrastructure if Iran does not open the Strait of Hormuz. But he extended a deadline he had imposed for this week, giving Iran another 10 days to respond.
Iranian threats to attack ships in the strait have kept most oil tankers from attempting the waterway. Iran has agreed to let an additional 20 Pakistani-flagged vessels pass through the strait, with two ships permitted to transit daily, said Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.
Israel has targeted Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, which has evacuated staff from the Bushehr nuclear power plant on the Gulf coast, said the attacks threatened nuclear safety.
Pezeshkian said Iran would “retaliate strongly if our infrastructure or economic centres are targeted”.
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