United News of Bangladesh

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen captured Mayun island at the entrance to the Red Sea Friday, after seizing the port of Mokha Thursday, threatening international shipping. Iran urged Saudi Arabia to end its blockade of Yemen and resume talks. Mayun is a strategic alternative route for Saudi oil and other exports amid Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. The seizure was confirmed by officials from Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Houthis, who spoke anonymously. Saudi Arabia responded by striking Mokha airport, with no immediate reports of casualties or damage. Saudi airstrikes hit Houthi-held Mokha airport as rebels seize strategic island About 12% of global goods normally pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is vital to Saudi Arabia. Its long-running blockade of Houthi-held Yemen has contributed to attacks on Saudi shipping. Iran backed negotiations, while Yemen’s National Defense Council condemned renewed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. AI company Anthropic said it blocked users in northern Houthi-held Yemen who used Claude Code to develop advanced ballistic and hypersonic missiles. No evidence showed a weapon was deployed. Iran denies arming the Houthis.

Saudi Arabia carried out airstrikes on an airport in the key Yemeni port city of Mokha after Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the facility and captured a strategic island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, according to Houthi media and Yemeni officials. The Houthi broadcaster reported that Saudi warplanes struck Mokha airport, which the rebels took control of on Thursday. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the strikes. The Houthis also captured Mayun, a small volcanic island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the entrance to the Red Sea, two officials confirmed Friday. The capture was confirmed by a senior military official from Yemen’s internationally recognized government and a Houthi official. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Mayun, also known as Perim, lies about 3.5 kilometers off Yemen’s western coast and occupies a strategic position along a major global shipping route. Houthi political bureau member Hazam al-Assad said there was “no need for international concern,” arguing that the rebels were responding to Saudi aggression. He warned that the Houthis had “a bank of big important targets” if Riyadh continued its attacks. There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia. Earlier Friday, Iran called for an end to Saudi Arabia’s blockade of Yemen and backed the Houthis, while its Foreign Ministry urged Saudi Arabia and the rebels to return to negotiations. The Houthis’ capture of Mokha, which overlooks tanker routes linking the Red Sea, could further threaten Saudi oil exports and international shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Experts said the developments could also strengthen Tehran’s position in any future negotiations with Washington by opening another pressure point in the region. The Houthis entered Mokha on Thursday in their biggest territorial advance in years against Saudi-backed forces, bringing them closer to the Bab el-Mandeb, an important alternative shipping route to the Strait of Hormuz. A senior official from Yemen’s internationally recognized government said the Saudi air force had failed to strike the Houthis earlier as they advanced toward Mokha, suggesting Riyadh may not have received US approval for a large-scale air campaign. The official blamed a lack of coordination between Yemen’s army and allied forces for giving the Houthis a major opportunity to advance. The Houthis have attacked shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb and the Red Sea since declaring a blockade there in July, as well as targeting Saudi oil infrastructure. The rebels have said the attacks were in response to the Saudi blockade of Houthi-held areas of Yemen. Any further disruption to the waterway could affect global shipping and push up crude oil prices. Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb to transport its oil as Iran has targeted vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. About 12 percent of global goods normally pass through the Bab el-Mandeb, while shipping through the waterway had already fallen by around 60 percent after the Houthis began attacking vessels there in late 2023. The latest Houthi advances also threaten to undermine a fragile truce that has largely kept Yemen’s civil war at a low level since 2022. Yemen’s Saudi-backed government on Friday condemned the renewed Houthi attacks and called for international support, saying the country was on the front line of efforts to ensure freedom of navigation. The escalation has already forced more than 46,000 people to flee their homes over the past week, according to the UN migration agency. Large numbers of people were reportedly seen leaving Mokha with their belongings. The conflict has raised fears of a return to full-scale civil war in Yemen, where about 40 million people live. The Houthis have been fighting Yemen’s government since 2014, when they seized large parts of northern and central Yemen, including the capital Sanaa. Saudi Arabia intervened the following year in support of the government.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) top commander in Tehran, Hassan Hassanzadeh, declared that Iran has moved beyond defensive operations and is now "on the threshold of offensive operations," state-run media reported. "This is a turning point whose effects the enemies will soon understand," Hassanzadeh said. He said that Iranian forces are prepared to deploy to any point in the country at high speed and destroy the enemy under any circumstances. Hassanzadeh noted that Iran's capacity for rapid transportation as well as specialized and special operations has been developed through repeated exercises in recent years. The commander also denied claims by Donald Trump that the U.S. has destroyed Iran's military capabilities. With inputs from Al Jazeera

At least four people, including two children, were killed in an Israeli strike in northern Gaza, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed Saudi-backed forces carried out dozens of airstrikes in several areas. Two children were among at least four people killed in a fresh Israeli strike on Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, according to Shifa Hospital, where the bodies were taken. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike carried out early Thursday. In a statement, however, the military said its forces on Wednesday struck Hamas weapons storage facilities in three areas across Gaza. Israel has previously said its forces conduct strikes in response to perceived threats against its troops amid the fragile ceasefire that has been in place since October. Meanwhile, Al-Masirah TV, which is controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, reported that Saudi-backed forces carried out 40 airstrikes in recent hours in Taiz, Jawf, Hodeida and Marib provinces. The claim could not be independently verified by The Associated Press, while there was no immediate comment from the Saudi-backed forces. Fighting between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces has intensified this week, raising concerns about a major escalation. The Houthis have also attacked oil facilities and utilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia.

The death toll from an airstrike on a Houthi-run prison in Yemen’s Jawf province has risen to 23 after rescuers recovered four more bodies from the rubble on Wednesday, as renewed fighting threatened the country’s fragile ceasefire. The prison in Hazm, the provincial capital, collapsed Monday after Saudi-led coalition strikes hit the area, injuring seven others. A child was among the dead, while seven people remained missing, according to Jawf civil defense chief Hassan Saboula. The Houthis retaliated Tuesday by attacking southern Saudi cities, prompting further coalition strikes Wednesday. Saudi-backed government forces also advanced in eastern Hazm, cutting Houthi supply routes. The rebels reported 48 airstrikes across six provinces within 12 hours. The escalation has also raised concerns over global oil shipments, with the Houthis targeting Saudi oil facilities and Red Sea shipping. The violence has shattered a four-year truce. The WHO said at least 194 people were killed and over 880 wounded in Yemen between Aug. 23 and Sept. 5, while more than 21,000 were displaced. Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 after the Houthis seized Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year. The conflict has killed at least 150,000 people, according to UN estimates.

Foreign ministers from eight Arab and Islamic countries have expressed hope that more nations will join the United Kingdom in imposing sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Turkiye, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates urged the international community to "hold accountable settlement organizations and individuals engaged in illegal settlement activities". The diplomatic push follows the U.K.'s announcement banning imports of goods produced in illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank. The British decision is part of a broader package of measures targeting expanding Israeli settlements and intensifying settler violence against Palestinian residents. France and Canada also announced that they would ban the import of products from Israeli settlements, while nine other countries, including Denmark and Portugal, endorsed the British measures. With inputs from Al Jazeera

The US military said Tuesday it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers after Iran targeted US Navy warships with ballistic missiles, while Tehran launched missiles at American targets in Jordan in the latest escalation in the more than six-month-old war. Iranian state media reported that missiles were fired toward US targets in Jordan following the US strikes. Jordan's military said its air defenses intercepted 18 ballistic missiles and that two others landed in uninhabited areas, with no casualties reported. The latest exchanges came as President Donald Trump pursued a combined military and economic strategy aimed at pressuring Iran to end the war. The US administration also announced sanctions against more than two dozen Iranian commercial and private airlines and foreign cargo service providers as part of efforts to further isolate Tehran. The United States and Iran are also locked in a confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passed before the war. The conflict has pushed up energy prices, with Brent crude briefly reaching $99.46 a barrel on Tuesday. US forces destroyed three Iranian oil tankers Saturday after Iran's Revolutionary Guard attempted to strike a US aircraft carrier and destroyer with ballistic missiles. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would continue responding to attacks on its naval forces. “For every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia. US Central Command said Tuesday's strikes came after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted a US Navy warship twice over the previous two days. The warship evaded the attacks and continued patrolling regional waters, and no US personnel were injured, it said. The five tankers destroyed Tuesday were identified as the Kivik, Charminar, Horizon 1 and Riesco in the Gulf of Oman, and the Derya near Iran's Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz. The crews were warned to abandon the vessels before the strikes, according to Central Command. Iranian state television also reported attacks on oil tankers near the southern port of Jask and Kharg Island, saying their crews had been evacuated. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy meanwhile warned crews of oil tankers near Kuwait and Bahrain to leave their vessels, saying the ships could be targeted in retaliation. It accused the two Gulf countries of hosting US forces and supporting American attacks. The US blockade of Iranian ports has further squeezed Tehran's economy by restricting oil exports, while US forces have been assisting a limited number of vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz along a route near Oman. Iran has sought to impose its own designated route for ships passing through the strait, which had been regarded as international waters before the war. Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, warned that continued military exchanges could trigger further retaliation and deepen the economic impact of the conflict. “There is no kinetic solution to the Strait of Hormuz problem,” he said, warning that attempts to resolve the dispute militarily could push Washington and Tehran toward an escalation that becomes increasingly difficult to control.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that the country will continue its resistance with strength until the "aggressors" are brought to complete regret. In a post on social media platform X, he also highlighted Iran's opposition to war. "The Islamic Republic of Iran has always been opposed to war and considered the preservation of the people's interests and ensuring the (West Asia) region's security to lie in refraining from warmongering," Pezeshkian said. He added, "However, just as it has courageously risen to defend against aggression up to this day, Iran will continue this resistance with strength until the aggressors are brought to complete regret, and will remain the guardian of the rights of the great Iranian people." On Feb. 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and U.S. bases and assets in the region, and tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz. On June 18, the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on ending the war in the region. Under the MoU, they were scheduled to hold negotiations within a period of 60 days, which ended on Aug. 17, to reach a final agreement, but the talks' fate remains unclear following the recent escalations between the two countries.

Iran early Tuesday introduced a higher price for its heaviest users of gasoline, state media reported, in the latest economic pinch caused by months of war. It's the second such hike since December. Such gas price increases can be sensitive and contribute to inflation. An increase in 2019 sparked nationwide protests and a crackdown that reportedly killed over 300 people. Without specifically mentioning the war with the United States, the government's announcement cited the "current situation," adding that the extra money from the price increase will be given to households. Under the new system, people buying more than their quota of 110 liters (29 gallons) of gasoline a month now must pay 100,000 rials (about 7 cents) per liter, or twice as much as they have been paying since December.

At least 117 people have been killed in four days of fierce clashes between Yemeni government forces and the Houthi group in the western provinces of Taiz and Hodeidah, medical officials said Sunday. A senior medical official accompanying government forces on the western coast frontlines, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 54 government soldiers were killed and many others wounded since the fighting erupted Thursday.  Additionally, two medical sources at Houthi-run hospitals in western Hodeidah province confirmed that 63 Houthi members were killed during the same period, bringing the total death toll from both sides to 117.  Meanwhile, government forces retook several key positions in western Taiz in a swift overnight counterattack, hours after Houthi members had seized them, according to a government military official who spoke on condition of anonymity.  The latest escalation represents some of the heaviest ground fighting in western Yemen in recent years, raising concerns of a broader return to large-scale hostilities after years of relative calm across many of the country's frontlines.  Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.