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strikeMar 28, 2026

Israel says it intercepted first incoming missile from Yemen as war in Middle East intensifies

Summary

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel’s military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen toward Israel early Saturday and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels later claimed responsibility for the attack, their first since the war in the Mideast started. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, claimed responsibility in a statement aired Saturday morning on the rebels' Al-Masirah satellite television. The possible entry to the war of the Houthis calls into question whether the group will again target commercial shipping traveling through the Red Sea corridor. Sirens went off around Beer Sheba and the area near Israel’s main nuclear research center for the third time overnight Friday into Saturday as Iran and Hezbollah continued to fire on Israel overnight. Loud explosions also filled the air in Tel Aviv and Israel’s Fire and Rescue Service said it was responding to 11 different impact sites across the metro area. Israel had struck Iran’s nuclear facilities hours after threatening to “escalate and expand” its campaign against Tehran on Friday. Iran vowed to retaliate and struck a base in Saudi Arabia, wounding U.S. service members and damaging planes. More than two dozen U.S. troops have been wounded in Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base in the past week, according two people who have been briefed on the matter. Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at the base in the Friday attack that injured at least 15 troops, including five seriously, according to the people who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The base about about 96 kilometers (60 miles) from the Saudi capital of Riyadh came under come attack twice earlier in the week, including a strike that injured 14 U.S. troops, according to the people briefed on the matter. The base is run by the Royal Saudi Air Force but also used by U.S. troops. In Lebanon, authorities said more than 1,100 people have been killed since the start of the war. The Associated Press is now calling Israel’s military actions in southern Lebanon an invasion. Israel has moved thousands of troops across the border into Lebanon, and Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants have been fighting on the ground for at least three weeks. U.S. stocks experienced a further drop Friday. The S&P 500 sank 1.7% to close out its worst week since the Iran war started and its 5th losing week in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.1%. Meanwhile, crude oil prices continued to soar. With U.S. gas prices approaching $4 a gallon, members of Congress have been pushing to suspend the federal gasoline tax, set at 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel fuel. U.S. President Donal Trump suggested states should look at suspending their fuel taxes. Involvement of Houthis could further complicate the war Saree said the Houthis fired a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting what he described as “sensitive Israeli military sites” in southern Israel. The attack came hours after Saree signaled in a vague statement Friday that the rebels would join the war. The Houthis have held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014, and so far had stayed out of the war as the rebels have had an uneasy ceasefire for years with Saudi Arabia, which launched a war against the group on behalf of Yemen’s exiled government in 2015. Attacks on vessels during the Israel-Hamas war upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion worth of goods passed each year before the war. The rebels also fired drones at Israel. In 2024, the Trump administration launched strikes against the Houthis that ended weeks later. The U.S.-led campaign against the Houthi rebels, overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, turned into the most intense running sea battle the Navy had faced since World War II. The Houthi rebels attacked over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, from November 2023 until January 2025. That would cause further chaos in global shipping, which already is reeling from Iran’s stranglehold over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas once passed. The potential involvement of the Houthis in the war also would complicate the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the aircraft carrier that went to port in Crete on Monday for repairs. Sending the carrier back into the Red Sea could draw it into the same high tempo of attacks seen by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2024 and the USS Harry S. Truman in the 2025 American campaign against the Houthis. Israel strikes Iranian nuclear facilities Israel focused its attacks Friday on sites “in the heart of Tehran” where ballistic missiles and other weapons are produced, the military said. It said it also hit missile launchers and storage sites in Western Iran, while witnesses in eastern Tehran reported a partial power outage following airstrikes. Iranian state media said Friday that two nuclear facilities had come under attack. Israel, which had threatened to “escalate and expand” its campaign against Tehran, claimed responsibility, and Iran quickly threatened to retaliate. “Iran will exact HEAVY price for Israeli crimes,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said via X. Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said the Shahid Khondab Heavy Water Complex in Arak and the Ardakan yellowcake production plant in Yazd Province were targeted, IRNA reported. The strikes did not cause any casualties and there was no risk of contamination, it said. The Arak plant has not been operational since Israel attacked it last June. Yellowcake is a concentrated form of uranium after impurities are removed from the raw ore. Heavy water is used as a moderator in nuclear reactors. The Israeli military later said raw materials are processed for enrichment at the Yazd plant and the strike was a major blow to Iran's nuclear program. Seyed Majid Moosavi, IRGC’s Aerospace Force commander, said on X that employees of companies tied to the U.S. and Israel should abandon their workplaces: “This time, the equation will no longer be ‘an eye for an eye,’ just wait.” Late Friday, Israeli authorities said Iran had launched missiles at the country that killed a 52-year-old man in Tel Aviv. Sirens alerted people to seek shelter in and around Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Beer Sheba and areas near the country's main nuclear research center, which were targeted by Iranian strikes that injured dozens last weekend. Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down missiles and drones targeting the capital, Riyadh. In Lebanon, the Health Ministry said two people were killed. Kuwait said its Shuwaikh Port in Kuwait City and the Mubarak Al Kabeer Port to the north, which is under construction as part of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative. China has continued to purchase Iranian crude. Trump renews call for Israeli-Saudi ties Speaking in Miami at an event sponsored by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, Trump reiterated his desire for those two countries to normalize relations. The president has been pressing the two biggest powers in the Middle East on that for years as part of his Abraham Accords efforts, and he said the time will be right when hostilities end with Iran. “It’s now time,” he said. “We’ve now taken them out, and they are out bigly. We got to get into the Abraham Accords.” Significant headwinds remain, including Saudi Arabia’s insistence that there needs to be a credible path to a Palestinian state before it normalizes commercial and diplomatic ties with Israel. Diplomacy proceeds alongside US troop buildup Word of the attacks on Iran came after Trump claimed that talks on ending the war were going “very well” and that he had given Tehran more time to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran maintains that it has not engaged in any negotiations. With stock markets reeling and economic fallout from the war extending far beyond the Middle East, Trump is under growing pressure to end Iran's chokehold on the strait. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington delivered a 15-point “action list” to Iran for a possible ceasefire, using Pakistan as an intermediary. It proposes restricting Iran’s nuclear program and reopening the strait. Iran rejected the offer and presented its own five-point proposal that included reparations and recognition of its sovereignty over the waterway. Trump has said if that Iran doesn't reopen the strait to all traffic by April 6, he will order the destruction of Iran’s energy plants. Diplomats from several countries including Pakistan and Turkey have tried to organize a direct meeting between U.S. and Iranian envoys. Separately, G7 foreign ministers meeting Friday in France formally asked for an immediate halt to attacks against populations and infrastructure. U.S. ships drew closer to the region carrying some 2,500 Marines, and at least 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne trained to land in hostile territory to secure key positions and airfields have been ordered to the Middle East. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. “can achieve all of our objectives without ground troops.” Following the G7 meeting, Rubio said the deployments are designed to ensure “maximum opportunity to adjust to contingencies should they emerge.” Israel sent the 162nd Division into southern Lebanon to support efforts to protect its northern border towns from Hezbollah attacks and uproot the militant group, the military said. Death toll climbs Nineteen people have died in Israel, while four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon. Authorities dais over 1,900 people have been killed in Iran. The U.N.’s International Organization for Migration said Friday that 82,000 civilian buildings in Iran, including hospitals and the homes of 180,000 people, are damaged. At least 13 American troops have been killed, and four people in the occupied West Bank and 20 in Gulf Arab states have also died. In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militia groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have died. Possible breakthrough with aid and agricultural shipments There appeared to be a breakthrough as Tehran agreed to allow humanitarian aid and agricultural shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, accepting a request from the U.N. Ali Bahreini, the country’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said Iran agreed to “facilitate and expedite” such movement. The vital waterway usually handles a fifth of the world’s oil shipments and nearly a third of the world’s fertilizer trade. While markets and governments have largely focused on blocked supplies of oil and natural gas, the restriction of fertilizer ingredients and trade threatens farming and food security around the world. “This measure reflects Iran’s continued commitment to supporting humanitarian efforts and ensuring that essential aid reaches those in need without delay,” Bahreini said on the social platform X. The U.N. earlier announced a task force to address the ripple effects that the war has had on aid delivery. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo, Madhani from Washington and Gambrell from Dubai.

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  • SAMY MAGDY, AAMER MADHANI and JON GAMBRELL, Associated PressBy SAMY MAGDY, AAMER MADHANI and JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel’s military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen toward Israel early Saturday and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels later claimed responsibility for the attack, their first since the war in the Mideast started. Brig…

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US-Iran War Live: US weighs troop pullback from Gulf following damage in Iran war, report says

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Advertisement Middle East Crisis US-Iran War Live: US weighs troop pullback from Gulf following damage in Iran war, report says New Delhi,UPDATED: Aug 19, 2026 02:00 IST US-Iran War Live Updates: US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that no talks with Iran were taking place or scheduled, while insisting that the Strait of Hormuz remained open.

"There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated," Trump said on Truth Social.

Iran, however, maintained that the waterway would remain closed until Washington met conditions under an interim deal signed in June, including lifting the blockade on Iranian ports, removing oil sanctions, unfreezing Iranian assets and ending military operations.

The conflicting claims came as Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and special envoy, said on Monday that US-Iran contacts were "probably more robust than it's maybe ever been". Meanwhile, the UAE said it detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran, which it assessed were targeting "maritime traffic".

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The UAE had also recently accused Iran of attacking ADNOC vessels transiting the strait, although Tehran has not claimed responsibility. Follow indiatoday.in for live updates....Read More (Photo: X/@CENTCOM) 2 Aug 19, 2026 02:00 IST US Iran war: US weighs troop pullback from Gulf after Iran war damage, report says The US Defense Department is considering reducing its military presence in the Persian Gulf after its bases and facilities sustained damage during the war with Iran, The Washington Post reports.

The conflict has given Washington a “once-in-a-generation chance” to reassess its long-term military footprint in the Gulf, according to the report. One option under consideration is moving some US troops and military facilities further west, including to Jordan and Israel.

American refuelling aircraft have been stationed in Israel during the war. Aug 19, 2026 01:59 IST Middle East crisis: Here's what happened so far - US-Iran talks: Trump said no talks with Iran are underway or scheduled. - Trump on Hormuz: He said the Strait of Hormuz is open and operating, while the US naval blockade remains in force.

- Iran’s position: Top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Hormuz will remain closed until US demands under the June interim deal are met. - Iran’s demands: Tehran wants the US to lift the blockade on its ports, remove oil sanctions, unfreeze Iranian assets and end military operations.

- Kushner’s account: Jared Kushner said on Monday that US-Iran contacts were “probably more robust than it’s maybe ever been.” - Talks stalled: A senior Iranian official said Tehran would shift to a “fully offensive” military posture as efforts to reach a permanent deal have stalled.

- UAE missile alert: The UAE said it detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran. - Missiles fell at sea: The UAE Defence Ministry said both missiles fell into the sea and were assessed to have been targeting “maritime traffic.” - No Iranian claim: Iran has not immediately commented on the UAE's missile allegation.

- 60-day window expires: The missile incident followed the expiry of a 60-day window for US-Iran peace talks on Monday without a breakthrough. - UAE all-clear: The UAE earlier told residents the situation was safe and asked them to resume normal activities after the missile warning.

- ADNOC vessels: The UAE has accused Iran of attacking its state-owned ADNOC vessels transiting Hormuz. Iran has not claimed responsibility for those attacks.

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Something Changed in a Single Day: Trump Claimed Backchannel Talks With the IRGC, Then Said No Talks Were Happening at All

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President Donald Trump has made another bombastic pronouncement amid the war with Iran. On Tuesday, he shared a map labeling the Strait of Hormuz “NEW U.S. Territory,” via his Truth Social platform. Iran has continued to stress that the strait will not be fully reopened until Washington meets its slew of demands, including ending its blockade on Iranian shipping and scrapping oil sanctions.

Ship Hit in Strait Just hours before Trump’s latest post, a vessel exiting the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an unidentified projectile off the coast of Oman. According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, the ship’s engine room was hit, resulting in a “crew casualty.

” Officials did not immediately identify the vessel or its cargo. The Omani Coast Guard said it was assisting the remaining crew as authorities investigated the incident. Iran’s Stranglehold on the Strait Since the United States and Israel launched attacks on the Islamic Republic on February 28, Iran has tightly restricted shipping through the waterway.

Prior to the war, around one-fifth of globally traded oil passed through Hormuz. Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Tuesday that Tehran would maintain its restrictions until Washington fulfilled what Iran considers its commitments under the interim U.

S.-Iran agreement struck in June. Those demands include lifting the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, releasing frozen Iranian assets, removing sanctions on Iranian oil and gas exports, and ending U.S. military threats and operations. “Until the United States fulfills its commitments under the agreement … the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen,” Qalibaf said.

Blockade Vs. Territory Asked in the Oval Office on Monday about his earlier suggestion that Hormuz could become American territory, the president said he liked the idea. “We control it with the blockade, and I like the idea of declaring it a territory,” Trump told reporters, adding: “We have total control over the strait now.

” Washington’s blockade is hitting Iranian shipping hard. U.S. Central Command said Monday that American forces had redirected 64 commercial vessels, disabled three ships, and boarded another two as part of the renewed blockade. That does not mean Washington has eliminated Iran’s ability to disrupt other shipping.

Tuesday’s unexplained attack came after a string of strikes on vessels attempting to navigate the area. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi also rejected Trump’s territorial claim on Tuesday, describing it as a “delusion.” Tehran has repeatedly maintained that it, rather than Washington, will determine when normal passage through the strait resumes.

Iran and Oman Near Deal Complicating matters further are separate negotiations between Iran and Oman, the two countries sitting on opposite sides of the strait. Iran said Monday that the two governments were finalizing details of an agreement concerning shipping routes through Hormuz.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said an “understanding has been reached regarding the map of the transit route.” Trump responded by threatening Oman, a longstanding U.S. partner, telling Fox News that Washington would “bomb the shit out of them” if Muscat “gets in the way.

” The diplomatic clock has already run down. The 60-day negotiating period established by the June memorandum between Washington and Tehran expired on Monday without a broader agreement being reached. Trump has said the United States is not seeking an extension.

Tehran Likely to Double Down Columnist Melanie Phillips slammed President Trump’s plans for a ceasefire last month, complaining that it had given Tehran the upper hand and showed that “everyone can now see America is not prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to defend itself.

” Trump has claimed Iran has essentially lost this war and that the blockade is massively damaging its economy. However, he has also instructed his team to pursue a “low-key” approach to talks. On July 7, Trump said the agreement was “over”, while Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it was “suspended” the following week.

“They should put up the white flag of surrender,” Trump told Fox News on Monday, claiming that backchannel talks with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were ongoing. The IRGC has denied these claims. On Tuesday, Trump dramatically changed his tune, stating that no talks with Iran were ongoing, and that no discussions were scheduled.

About the Author: Georgia Gilholy Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.

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Iran War Day 172: ‘No Talks’ Scheduled with Tehran, Trump Says

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Iran War Day 172: ‘No Talks’ Scheduled with Tehran, Trump Says In a post on Truth Social Tuesday President Donald Trump said that “there are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Trump added that the U.

S. naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz “remains in full force and effect” and that the waterway “is open and operating.” In a separate post, Trump published an image labelling the strait as “NEW U.S. Territory.” Only six commodity ships transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, according to Kpler data cited by Reuters.

Iran’s Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tuesday, Until the commitments made by the United States in the memorandum of understanding, including the lifting of the blockade, the release of frozen assets, the lifting of oil sanctions, the end of threats and military operations on all fronts, and other conditions to which America agreed in the memorandum, are implemented, the strait will not be opened.

The deadline for that memorandum of understanding—signed by Trump and Iran’s president in June—expired on Monday. The two nations had agreed to negotiate a final peace deal over a 60-day period, but the framework agreement quickly fell apart, and the deadline seemingly wasn’t extended, despite mixed reporting.

Subscribe Today Get daily emails in your inbox Ghalibaf will lead a “high-level parliamentary delegation” to Iraq on Wednesday, Iran’s Fars news agency reported. The visit comes as pro-Iran militia groups face a September 30 deadline set by the Iraqi government to disarm.

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Trump says no talks planned with Iran, Tehran says Strait of Hormuz still shut

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U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday no talks were taking place with Iran and none were scheduled, and he insisted that the Strait of Hormuz was open, contradicting an earlier Iranian assertion that the critical waterway remained shut to shipping.

The receding prospects of a deal to end the nearly six-month conflict drove up oil prices again on Tuesday, while stock markets sagged and borrowing costs for major economies including the U.S. hit multi-decade highs, amid concerns about the long-term inflationary and fiscal impact of the crisis.

A temporary ceasefire agreement expired on Monday and a senior Iranian official told Reuters that his country was moving to a “fully offensive” military posture due to the diplomatic stalemate, though there were no reports of fresh strikes by either side on Tuesday.

“There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday. “The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated,” he added.

On Monday, Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and special envoy, had sounded an optimistic note, saying talks with Iran were still under way and were “probably more robust” than they had ever been. Despite Trump's typically ebullient remarks about the situation in the Gulf, preliminary shipping data on Tuesday showed ship crossings via the Strait of Hormuz were still in single digits on Monday.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it received a report on Tuesday that a vessel was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting outbound in the Strait of Hormuz, causing engine room damage and a crew casualty. The remaining crew were being assisted by the Omani Coast Guard, according to the report.

Top Iranian negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in comments published by state media that the strait would remain shut until the U.S. met the conditions of an interim deal signed with Iran in June. These conditions include the U.S. lifting its blockade of Iranian ports, lifting oil sanctions, releasing Tehran's frozen assets, and ending threats and military operations on all fronts, Qalibaf told parliament.

A memorandum of understanding signed on June 17 had set a 60-day time frame for a broader deal on Iran's nuclear programme and U.S. sanctions. That period elapsed on Monday and Trump said he had no plans to extend it. The agreement, which declared the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts,” had quickly unravelled over a dispute about control of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war.

Both Trump and Tehran have frequently switched between threats and more emollient rhetoric as they seek a way out of the crisis, which erupted when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28. Iran remains open to dialogue with the U.

S. but does not confuse negotiations with surrender, Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said on Tuesday, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. Mokhber said military pressure and sanctions would not break Iran's resolve and that the country would defend its security, dignity and allies while not seeking war.

Even as Iran projects resilience in the war, its leaders are worried that a threat of more economic punishment could increase hardships, reignite unrest and further erode the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy, according to three Iranian officials. Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, mainly in Iran and Lebanon.

Iran has bombed U.S. military bases and infrastructure in countries including Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Benchmark Brent crude oil futures have surged during the conflict, hitting a peak of $126 a barrel, roughly 75% above pre-war levels.

Brent crude futures settled up 20 cents on Tuesday at just over $91 a barrel. For Americans who will vote in November congressional elections, gasoline prices have risen above $4 per gallon, up from less than $3 before the war, according to the automotive group AAA.

Location: Tehran
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