War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland that Saudi Arabia has a right to defend itself against attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Al Jazeera reports.

“Obviously the Saudis have come under Houthi attack … and they have a right to defend themselves”, he says, adding that neither Riyadh nor Yemen’s internationally recognised government were “in favour of [Houthi] control in that territory”.

Rubio also stresses that the US intends to honour the binding security agreement it has with Saudi Arabia.

The Houthi-run maritime coordination body in Yemen has issued a warning for airlines flying in Saudi airspace, Reuters reports citing Houthi-affiliated media, as internationally recognised government forces launch a major offensive against the rebel group.

The maritime coordination body says the kingdom’s airspace will not be safe as long as Saudi’s “aggression” continues.

The Saudi government media office has not immediately replied when asked about the warning.

Yemeni Assistant Defence Minister Major General Samir Al-Sabri tells Al Jazeera that the first phase of the army’s military operation against the Houthis will focus on the Bab al-Mandab strait and the port city of Mokha.

He says the army of the internationally recognised government is “on the right track” to defeat the Houthis.

“We seek to restore state authority across all Yemeni governorates. We expect liberation operations to proceed smoothly and easily in the near future,” Al-Sabri says. “We have launched coordinated counterattacks, and the government intends to accelerate efforts to extend its authority.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington still has confidence in the security of all of its bases, after five men were arrested near a British airbase on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, Reuters reports.

Rubio, asked about the US decision to remove its B-1 bombers from the British base, says that the Department of War constantly relocates assets where they need to be and that he would not directly tie last week’s incident to the move.

He adds that British authorities have been very cooperative on the case.

The families of US troops killed and injured in a drone attack on a base in Kuwait are questioning the nature of planning in the field and how warnings of a strike went unheeded, The Associated Press reports.

Six soldiers were killed and dozens injured in the deadliest known strike on US troops since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran on Feb 28.

The US Army and the Pentagon have declined to comment.

“We have the right to know what really happened,” a widow of one of the six soldiers told the AP. “If somebody messed up, those people need to be held responsible.”

Read more here.

Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser says satellite imagery and detailed ship tracking data are increasingly being used to attack infrastructure and oil tankers, Reuters reports.

“Satellite imaging and shipping logs are increasingly being weaponised against infrastructure and tankers. Tools of transparency should not become ammunition for aggression,” Nasser tells the Energy Intelligence Forum “Technology offers immense benefit, but also poses serious risks”.

He adds that oil markets follow headlines on the US-Israeli war on Iran, including those based on satellite imagery and ship tracking data.

Iranian army chief Major General Amir Hatami has warned that the country’s military will deliver a crushing response “should the enemy make another military mischief and threaten Iran”, state news agency IRNA reports.

During a visit to inspect army units, Hatami has praised the efforts, solidarity and cooperation of the military and stressed the need to maintain vigilance, warning that the US-Israeli war is not over.

Referring to the war and the armed forces’ victories in the field, he says “any conflict entails damage, but what matters is the outcome that brings honour and pride to the country”.

A tanker has turned around after being threatened by Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports citing the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO).

“A tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz inbound was hailed by the IRGC and instructed to turn back, or the vessel would be targeted,” it says, referring to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

“The master of the tanker has confirmed that they have complied with the instruction,” the UKMTO says, adding that the ship was entering the strait near the Omani coastline.

Yemeni government forces have taken control of the strategic Bab al-Mandab area from the Houthis as part of the ongoing military operation, ‘Dawn of Yemen’, Anadolu reports citing the army.

Military spokesman Lt Col Majid Abdullah al-Nuzayli says the pro-government Southern Giants Brigades and Nation’s Shield forces had “successfully taken control of Bab el-Mandeb”.

In a series of statements on social, al-Nuzayli adds that government forces also took control of Dhubab airport and cut the road between Dhubab and Mokha.

He says hundreds of Houthi fighters have been surrounded in the Dhubab area and has called on them to surrender, adding that some Houthi fighters later fled by boat via the sea.

Yemen’s Houthis claim that Saudi airstrikes killed a female student in the country’s Sanaa governorate, after government forces announced an offensive on the capital city, AFP reports.

“A student was killed and two others were wounded in a Saudi attack” targeting the Bani Hashish area, the Houthi-affiliated TV channel Al-Masirah reports, adding that strikes have also targeted the Saada region, a Houthi stronghold.

Chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Major General Ali Abdollahi, has warned that any new act of aggression against Iran would have consequences for countries hosting US forces in the West Asia region, saying continued American military presence was the main source of insecurity and economic problems, IRNA reports.

Addressing US President Donald Trump, Abdollahi said Iran was not waiting for US congressional elections. He said that, regardless of the election result, any US action against Iran, either directly or at the urging of the Israeli regime, would prompt an immediate response from Iran’s armed forces.

Yemen’s armed forces said they have begun a “strategic offensive” in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, Reuters reports.

The Houthis have held the capital and vast parts of the northwest, where most of the population live.

Global oil stockpiles are “scarily thin” owing to the US-Iran war, Saudi Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser said, days after G7 nations agreed to release more of their inventories to ease supply concerns, AFP reports.

“The system is already straining,” Nasser told the Energy Intellligence Forum in London.

“And with precious little else the world can turn to, the supply resilience cushion is scarily thin.”

The Saudi-led military coalition announced its participation in the new Yemen government offensive targeting the Houthi militia, with 100 warplanes used in dawn strikes to provide air cover for ground forces, reports .

“100 fighter jets participated at dawn today in Operation ‘Dawn of Yemen’,” coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki wrote on X, using the name for the new offensive announced on Sunday.

“Round-the-clock air support for the Yemeni armed forces on the ground.”

Oil flows through Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline have not been interrupted, a source has told Reuters, following media reports of a recent disruption and amid hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis.

Ship-tracking firm TankerTrackers.com says satellite imagery showed at least 19 ship-to-ship transfers of oil and other energy products in the Gulf of Oman yesterday, Al Jazeera reports.

It said 11 of the transfers involved crude oil, two involved liquefied natural gas, and the rest were of refined products, including petrol and diesel.

Analysts have cited a surge in ship-to-ship transfers as one of the main reasons for the rebound of oil exports out of the Middle East despite the ongoing war and blockades by Iran and the US.

It involves the use of tankers that shuttle back and forth across the Strait of Hormuz to offload their cargo onto other tankers waiting in the Gulf of Oman.

The Yemeni military announced a broad set of strikes against Houthi targets, after the government declared a new campaign to retake all territory even as the Iran-backed group made fresh gains on the ground.

The government strikes, however, have yet to blunt ongoing Houthi advances on the ground.

The Special Representative of Pakistan for Afghanistan Affairs and the Director-General for South Asia of Iran’s Foreign Ministry have reviewed ongoing developments in the region, IRNA reports.

Sadiq Khan, the head of the Pakistani delegation, and Mohammad Reza Bahrami met yesterday on the sidelines of the Moscow Format on Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said the fifth Moscow Format meeting on Afghanistan is scheduled for today, hosted by the Russian Federation, with Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan affairs and its ambassador to Kabul set to attend.

Israeli military shelling has targeted the outskirts of the Haddatha and Baraachit municipalities in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports, citing the National News Agency.

The report said shelling also targeted the municipalities of al-Mansouri and Majdal Zoun overnight.

It did not elaborate on the results of the attacks.

Oil prices edged lower as rising Middle East crude exports and a release of oil stocks by the Group of Seven nations boosted supplies, offsetting concerns about further damage to Gulf oil infrastructure amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, reports Reuters.

Brent crude futures fell 66 cents, or 0.65 per cent, to $101.59 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $90.12 a barrel, down 95 cents, or 1.03pc.

Brent gave up most of its gains last week while WTI was 1.6pc lower after G7 countries agreed on Friday to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude from emergency reserves and pledged to refrain from energy export restrictions after pressure from US President Donald Trump.

Saudi Arabia unexpectedly cut its oil prices for sale to Asia in November to six-year lows while raising them for northwest Europe and the Mediterranean, a pricing document showed on Monday.

The largest Middle Eastern crude exporter set the November Arab Light crude oil official selling price to Asia at $5 a barrel below the average of Oman and Dubai prices, down $3 from the previous month.

The discount for November is the widest since June 2020, Reuters data showed.