Yemen war heats up further as Hormuz stalemate persists

A destroyed aircraft, shredded tents, trailers that have been ripped apart: images taken by US troops show significant damage from Iranian strikes targeting American military assets in the Middle East, CBS News reported.

The undated images -- taken at a base in Saudi Arabia and two facilities in Kuwait -- were provided to CBS by American personnel on condition of anonymity due to US military restrictions, the outlet said late Tuesday.

"This is major damage to our bases that hasn't been communicated to the American public," CBS quoted one US service member as saying.

"We're standing there with our eyes closed getting punched in the face," the service member added.

The Pentagon's inspector general released a report earlier this week that said the military's Central Command (CENTCOM) -- which is responsible for US forces in the Middle East -- had reported widespread damage to American facilities and equipment.

CENTCOM said Iranian strikes "damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan," the report said.

"In addition, dozens of US aircraft were destroyed or damaged" during the war, the report said.

Hundreds of oil tanker trucks were stranded in northeastern Syria's Kurdish region Wednesday after demonstrators blocked a major highway near the town of Tal Tamr in protest over rising fuel prices.

It was the latest evidence of rising discontent in the Kurdish region in the midst of a push to integrate a once-powerful Kurd-led force into Syria’s army and bring formerly autonomous institutions under the control of the central government.

The integration agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces has been widely regarded as a victory for the government of interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa.

But in recent weeks, a series of issues have sparked discontent among Kurdish communities in formerly SDF-controlled areas, testing al-Sharaa's ability to consolidate his rule and bring unity to a country emerging from 14 years of conflict.

Yemen's Houthis on Wednesday said they shot down a Saudi fighter jet, claiming a locally made munition was used to target the warplane.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces, with Allah's aid and grace, succeeded in shooting down a Saudi F15 fighter jet while it was carrying out hostile operations in support of its military mobilisations in the airspace of Marib province," the Houthis' military spokesman said.

In the statement posted to social media the spokesman, Yahya Saree, accused Saudi Arabia of launching 450 strikes in the the last week.

He added the jet had been targeted "using a locally made surface-to-air missile".

Saree also dismissed Saudi claims that the Houthis had targeted the holy city of Mecca this week.

"Our operations target its oil facilities and military bases, which are far removed from the sacred sites," he said.

Later, the Iran-backed group released footage of what it said was the targeting and downing of the jet.

In the video posted on social media, the burning wreckage of an aircraft could be seen in the desert and fighters posed with a part of the plane that appeared to show a Saudi flag.

Yemen's civil war had been dormant for years, but fighting between the Houthis and the internationally recognised government forces reignited in July.

The Houthis have also declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia and have been targeting its ships in the Red Sea.

In a lightning offensive last week, the Houthis seized control of the entirety of Yemen's Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The strait has become vital to Saudi crude exports as the wider Middle East war chokes the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.

Billionaire New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has come under renewed scrutiny after confirming that he pressured Ed Sheeran over rapper Macklemore’s participation in his US tour following the artist’s outspoken support for Palestine.

Kraft owns Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, one of the venues where Macklemore was due to perform as an opening act for Sheeran’s tour.

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The creation of a US-secured corridor in the Strait of Hormuz has significantly boosted the flow of oil through the strategic waterway, an AFP analysis of industry data showed.

US President Donald Trump said in mid-August that a "tremendous amount of oil" was being shipped out of the vital waterway, although data from shipping trackers Kpler and Lloyd's List Intelligence show that volumes are still around half the levels seen before the war.

White House officials also told Axios that the US has controlled the corridor hugging the Omani coast since around mid-June, when a peace memo was agreed.

The US military has escorted convoys of vessels since fighting resumed on July 8 and Iran once again threatened to attack ships using the route.

Approximately 330 million barrels of oil aboard vessels assessed by AFP, using Lloyd's criteria, as not linked to Iran have exited Hormuz since 8 July, equivalent to around 4.9 million bpd.

But that figure rose steadily through August and September, reaching an average of almost 8 million bpd during the seven days to 7 September.

More than 14 million barrels were shipped out on 7 September alone.

By comparison, around 18 million bpd crossed during peacetime, 1.4 million bpd during the first phase of the war when restrictions were first imposed, and 9.4 million bpd during talks when restrictions were lifted.

Sweden said Wednesday it had expelled an Iranian embassy employee and summoned the country's ambassador, accusing Tehran of making threats against Jewish and Israeli interests in Sweden.

"We know that Iran, over a long period of time, has conducted activities that threaten security in and against Sweden, targeting both individuals who oppose the Iranian regime and various Jewish and Israeli interests in our country. This has, among other things, been done by making use of criminal networks," Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said in a statement to AFP.

Arab League Secretary General Nabil Fahmy condemned on Wednesday an alleged attempted attack by Yemen's Houthis targeting Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

"Compromising the security of Mecca and the sanctity of Islamic holy sites is a matter of extreme gravity," he said in a statement, applauding the Saudi air force's thwarting of the attack.

He warned that Houthi attacks on Saudi territory "threaten the region's security and stability".

Yemen's Houthis on Wednesday said they targeted an Aramco facility in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu as well as an air base in southern Saudi Arabia in response to Saudi airstrikes.

Military spokesman Yahya Saree said Saudi Arabia had launched more than 450 air strikes this week, and that in response, the Iran-backed group "targeted the Aramco facility in Yanbu with dozens of ballistic missiles and drones" causing fires, as well as "the Khamis Mushait air base".

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi rejected on Wednesday any plans for Palestinian displacement, hours after Israel's defence minister said the army would "finish the job" in Gaza and remove Palestinians.

During a visit by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, Sisi "reiterated Egypt's firm stance against the displacement of the Palestinian people or any attempt to annihilate the Palestinian cause".

Egypt shares the only land border with the Gaza Strip that is not controlled by Israel, and has since 2023 rejected plans to displace the territory's more than two million people into the Sinai peninsula.

Last year, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo had turned down multiple offers to forgive parts of its massive foreign debt bill in exchange for allowing mass displacement into its territory.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday said it was only a matter of time before Israel resumes full-scale war in Gaza, "to finish the job so that we can also implement the migration plan".

Since May 2024, Israel has controlled Gaza completely after its military occupied the Philadelphi Corridor, the buffer zone along the Gaza-Egypt border. Egypt cannot evacuate any Palestinians from Gaza or send essential supplies into the Strip without Israel’s permission.

US officials met representatives of Yemen's Houthis in Oman over the weekend, five sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, days after the Iran-backed militia seized a strategic stretch of the Red Sea coast in a sweeping offensive that routed Saudi-backed forces.

The meeting, which has not been made public, was held at the US Embassy in Muscat, three of the sources said on the condition of anonymity. Two sources said that Oman's government, a longtime regional mediator, helped organise the meeting.

The Trump administration designated the Houthis a "foreign terrorist organisation" in March 2025, criminalising support for the group. But Washington has negotiated with them since, reaching a ceasefire in May last year after bombing the group for two months to halt a campaign of attacks on Red Sea shipping.

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the Houthis had phoned his administration asking the United States to keep out of the Yemen war. Vice President JD Vance said on Monday the United States was in direct contact with the group, without giving details.

In the meeting, which one source said took place on Sunday, the Houthis told US officials that they had no intention of attacking US vessels and that they were committed to the 2025 ceasefire with the S, two sources said.

One of the sources, a Yemeni, said the militia group also said they would not attack Israeli ships or any commercial vessels, except those belonging to Saudi Arabia.

According to two of the sources, the US side was represented by embassy personnel.

One of those sources said the Houthi delegation included a senior official based in Muscat who is under US sanctions, Mohammad Abdulsalam. Another source confirmed Abdulsalam's presence along with that of another senior Houthi official, Abdelmalik al-Ajiri.

As the UK sanctions occupied West Bank settlements, Israeli politicians and the lobby are weaponising antisemitism to defend the occupation and evade accountability, writes Richard Silverstein.

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Deputy Commander of the Revolutionary Guard Naval Forces for Political Affairs, Ali Mohammadi, said that no ship in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz is outside the scope of monitoring by Iran, indicating that any ship can be targeted at any point if necessary.

He said, according to what was reported by Fars agency: "The Americans believe that they can impose surrender on us by destroying a few bridges or roads, while we were present in the most difficult weather conditions, even in places like Farsi Island, whose area is no larger than a few football fields, and our connection to the motherland was never severed."

Greece is buying more than an air-defence system from Israel. It is deepening a strategic relationship, with implications for the wider Middle East, writes Giorgio Cafiero.

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At least 20 people, including five children, died, and dozens remained missing on Wednesday after a apartment building in Gaza collapsed from damage sustained in earlier Israeli strikes, the territory's civil defence agency said, giving an updated toll.

The bodies of "20 martyrs have been recovered from the rubble of a building that collapsed... Among the dead are five infants, while dozens of people remain trapped beneath the debris," said Mahmoud Bassal, the spokesperson for the civil defence agency.

Since May 2024, Israel has controlled Gaza completely after its military occupied the Philadelphi Corridor, the buffer zone along the Gaza-Egypt border. Egypt cannot evacuate any Palestinians from Gaza or send essential supplies into the Strip without Israel’s permission.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing was willing to "safeguard" Iran's rights during talks with his counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday, as Beijing seeks to mediate in Tehran's war with the United States.

China is "willing to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with Iran, and safeguard Iran's legitimate rights and interests", Wang told Araghchi as they met in the Chinese capital.

"We encourage Iran and the US to stay rational and restrained," he added.

The talks come one week before an expected trip by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington, where he will meet US President Donald Trump.

China, a top economic partner of Iran, has long sought a detente in the months-long conflict in the Middle East, which has at times spilled over into neighbouring countries.

"We do not wish to see regional tensions spilling over into Yemen and the Red Sea," Wang said.

 Saudi Arabia accused Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels overnight of trying to attack Islam’s holiest city, prompting condemnation from countries in the region but no sign of military support. The kingdom, a key US ally, declared Mecca a "red line" as it slid deeper into the new front of the Iran war.

The Houthis denied firing drones toward Mecca, about 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) from Yemen’s border. The Saudis said they intercepted and destroyed the drone before it entered the airspace over the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad.
 

Speaking ahead of his departure to France on Wednesday, President Joseph Aoun told AFP Lebanon wanted a new force, European or otherwise, to prevent a security vacuum after UN peacekeepers leave south Lebanon when their mandate expires at the end of the year.

He called on the United States, European Union and Arab countries to support Lebanon's military as it deploys across the south.

In Paris, Aoun will attend a meeting hosted by President Emmanuel Macron and attended by King Abdullah II of Jordan to build international support for Lebanese troops as they deploy across the country.

"What matters is that there is no vacuum," Aoun told AFP on Tuesday. He added that any new force for Lebanon's south, part of which is occupied by Israel, would be "temporary until the (Lebanese) army can deploy".

"Whatever the nature of this force, that poses no problem for me: European, non-European, American, another United Nations force, Asian, or even a mix of European, Arab and Asian forces," Aoun said.

"The best and most optimal option remains extending UNIFIL's mandate," he added.

Aoun also said he wants a security agreement with Israel "primarily to end the state of hostility and the deployment of the army on the border. This could be a prelude to a later peace agreement, but we cannot jump directly to a peace agreement".

"We have no choice but negotiations, because the alternative is war, which would be very costly for us," Aoun added.

Aoun reiterated Lebanon was determined to disarm the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, saying the decision was "neither negotiable nor open to discussion".

However, he said, "the objective is not a confrontation... We are determined to resolve this issue peacefully. "This is not about building a state at the cost of a bloody conflict... or a new civil war."

The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US and regional officials, that the US military fired up to 70 or more of its advanced interceptor missiles for air defense last week in response to the Iranian rocket attack on Jordan, noting that this massive expenditure is evidence of Iran’s improved ability to target US forces and challenge its air defenses.

Some officials said US forces fired between 60 and 70 Patriot interceptor missiles to counter the attack, including about 20 ballistic missiles. The Americans also fired more than 12 THAAD interceptor missiles, according to one official. Another official explained that this expenditure is roughly equivalent to what the United States has spent in an entire week during other periods of the war.

Gaza rescuers on Wednesday combed through the wreckage of a bombed-out apartment building that collapsed overnight, killing at least 12 Palestinians, including five children, and trapping dozens of others beneath the rubble.

The incident highlights the ongoing danger for tens of thousands of Palestinians who live in an estimated 2,000 damaged buildings due to Israeli airstrikes across Gaza.

Rescue workers from the civil defense said at least 12 people, including five children, were killed and 14 others injured when the seven-storey building collapsed.

Nearly 100 more people were believed to be trapped under the rubble, around 50 are believed to be children.

The United States hammered home a message touting its energy dominance at Tuesday's meeting of G20 energy ministers in Houston, while brushing past the consequences of Washington's war in Iran and environmental concerns.

The meeting's slogan to "Unleash the full potential of American energy" has been repeated by US officials tirelessly in Texas since the gathering kicked off Monday.

Members of US President Donald Trump's cabinet say his policies are a reversal of his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Lee Zeldin accusing Biden of participating in "climate alarmism" by promoting renewable energies.

"The whole idea was to produce enough energy for prosperity at home, but to be able to provide secure, affordable, reliable energy for all of our allies," Interior Secretary Doug Bergum said.

To help meet the growing demand for electricity, driven by the needs of the artificial intelligence industry, the EPA announced a reduction in limits on pollution from gas- and coal-fired power plants, sparking outcry from environmentalists.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned on Wednesday "in the strongest possible terms the dastardly and heinous" attack on Mecca, which a Saudi-led coalition blamed on Yemen's Houthis.

"The people of Pakistan are saddened and perturbed by this outrageous act," he said on X.

The Houthis have denied attacking Islam's holy city.

Israel's defence minister said Wednesday it was only a matter of time before the country resumes full-scale war in Gaza and moves to force out its two million Palestinians—a war crime.

Israel Katz, who is known for xenophobic and horrific remarks, was responding to criticism from another right-wing contender ahead of 27 October elections.

Katz said 70 percent of Gaza had already been emptied of its population by the Israeli war.

He said that an October 2025 ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump had "supreme value for all Israelis" by leading to the return of remaining hostages and ensuring "a commitment by the United States" to disarming Hamas.

"We all understand that this is not going to happen—and the IDF is prepared, once given the directive to eliminate Hamas, to finish the job so that we can also implement the migration plan," Katz said in a statement, referring to the Israeli military.

He said earlier this month that Israel was ready to remove Palestinians from Gaza by sea and land but was waiting for the United States, which he said was discussing where the two million people would go.

Nearly all of Gaza's population has been internally displaced and most of the territory lies in rubble after the war.

Forcibly displacing a population under occupation is consider a war crime and crime against humanity.

The war with Iran cost the US military around $38 billion as of August 1, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday, with billions more potentially added to the price tag each month the conflict wears on.

"As of August 1, 2026, the armed conflict with Iran has cost (the Department of Defense) approximately $38 billion," said the CBO in a report, referring to the war that started after US-Israeli strikes targeting Iran from late February.

It added that depending on the intensity of violence, costs per month could range between $2-$3 billion or more if the conflict continued.

The overall figures reflect the cost of replacing expended munitions and equipment lost in battle and increased fuel costs for the military, among other factors, the report said.

The price of replacing munitions used through August 1 was estimated at $21.7 billion, with CBO noting that such replacements have been the largest single component of costs incurred by the Defense Department in the conflict.

The "main opportunity cost" for the department meanwhile has been the depletion of missile defense interceptors, leaving the United States with reduced inventory for several years.

Comparing the reported expenditures of missile defense interceptors with total numbers the department has bought suggests the United States "has probably used between one-half and two-thirds of its inventory of those munitions since June 2025," the CBO warned.

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For a third time, the US House has voted to end the war in Iran, approving a war powers resolution that would halt President Donald Trump's ability to continue military action without congressional approval.

The roll call late Tuesday, 220-204, was similar to earlier efforts this summer, with a few more Republicans joining all Democrats voting to bring an end to the conflict. None of the resolutions have made it to the president's desk, where Trump would almost certainly veto the measure.

"Remember when Donald Trump said that this war would last just a few weeks?" said Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who served as a Marine during the Iraq War and pushed the resolution forward.

He said it's time for Congress to "actually ask tough questions, as the Constitution directs us to do, rather than be subservient to another warmongering administration."

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Yemen's Houthis on Wednesday said they shot down a Saudi fighter jet, claiming a locally made munition was used to target the warplane.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces, with Allah's aid and grace, succeeded in shooting down a Saudi F15 fighter jet while it was carrying out hostile operations in support of its military mobilisations in the airspace of Marib province," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on social media, while accusing Saudi Arabia of launching 450 strikes.

He said the jet had been targeted "using a locally made air-to-air missile".

The spokesman also dismissed Saudi claims that the Houthis had targeted the holy city of Mecca this week.

"Our operations target its oil facilities and military bases, which are far removed from the sacred sites," he said.

The Houthis have been engaged in renewed fighting with Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces since Yemen's civil war reignited in July.

The group have also declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia and have been targeting its ships in the Red Sea.

In a lightning offensive last week, the Houthis seized control of the entirety of Yemen's Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The strait has become vital to Saudi crude exports as the wider Middle East war chokes the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.