Saudi Arabia strikes a city in Yemen
Iran targets American strongholds in Gulf
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IRBIL, Iraq (AP) -- Saudi Arabia struck the port city of Hodeida in Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said in a statement in response to Iranian-backed Houthi rebel attacks on Saudi shipping.
The Houthis said the group would escalate after tensions have been brewing for weeks, breaking a years-long calm. The Saudi strikes were in retaliation for Houthi attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday.
Houthi-run Al Masirah television said Saudi strikes hit facilities belonging to the state telecommunications corporation and also targeted Kamaran island, off Yemen’s western coast. The broadcaster said one employee was injured and a woman was also wounded in Kamaran Island.
The coalition said that strikes only targeted “military targets” and did not target the port saying that all Yemeni ports were open for maritime navigation.
The Houthis announced a ‘maritime blockade’ against Saudi ships in the Red Sea for earlier this week.
The U.S. military said Friday that it fired on another merchant vessel that was trying to breach its blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran targeted American strongholds around the Persian Gulf.
The U.S. and Iran showed no sign of backing away from their conflict after a 13th straight night of strikes. With fighting flaring again and diplomacy uncertain, both sides made moves suggesting an escalation was possible. U.S. embassies in the Middle East began alerting Americans in the region that options to leave could become more limited, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guard advised residents of neighboring countries to stay away from bases with U.S. troops.
American forces disabled the M/T Lavine in the Gulf of Oman after the ship attempted to run the blockade at least four times, Capt. Tim Hawkins, U.S. Central Command spokesman, told The Associated Press. Hawkins stressed that the ship’s crew was warned and didn’t comply with commands. The military then fired into its engine room. It’s the second commercial ship to be disabled since the military reimposed its blockade. U.S. Central Command said it also has redirected 12 vessels.
The same day the naval blockade was reimposed, the U.S. military said it opened fire on the Curacao-flagged oil tanker Belma sailing toward Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf. After the ship “ignored multiple warnings,” a U.S. aircraft disabled the merchant vessel by firing a missile into the ship’s smokestack on July 15.
Earlier on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump described negotiations with Iran as “by far the most serious that we’ve seen,” even as the U.S. has launched daily strikes.
“We’re locked and loaded and ready to go, but we’re talking to them,” Trump told reporters, adding that he’s “not in a hurry” to end the war.
Vowing that Iran “will not bow to U.S.” bullying, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi noted ongoing discussions with two global powers often at odds with Americans -- China and Russia -- and warned in an interview with the semiofficial news outlet Tasnim that the Islamic Republic is “neither intimidated by threats nor will we yield to pressure.”
At the center of the fight is the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial passage for world energy supplies that has been effectively shut down by Iranian attacks, sending fuel prices soaring and causing widespread economic turmoil.
n the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, which is home to a contingent of American military advisers, security officials said Friday that U.S.-led forces had shot down five explosive-laden drones. Repeated blasts echoed in Irbil, the capital of Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region, and plumes of black smoke were seen near its airport, where U.S. forces are based. U.S. military officials did not respond to a request for comment on the apparent attacks.
Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted the U.S. base in Udairi, Kuwait, setting ablaze and destroying three ammunition and storage sheds. It also claimed to have struck a watchtower for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, which it said was damaged.