Iran war live: Saudi Arabia and Houthis trade strikes over Bab al-Mandeb

Iran war live: Saudi Arabia and Houthis trade strikes over Bab al-Mandeb | Hamas News | Al Jazeera

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**Live updates**Live updates,

Iran war live: Saudi Arabia and Houthis trade strikes over Bab al-Mandeb

!Yemeni prisoners loyal to the Houthi authorities gesture after being released on the west coast where they were being held by Yemen's Saudi-backed government forces, as they arrive in the capital Sanaa on September 12, 2026.

Video Duration 06 minutes 15 seconds

06:15

Houthi Advance Puts Bab el-Mandeb Shipping at Risk

By

Kristen Talman, Faisal Aziz Khan and Enes Abuomer

Published On 13 Sep 2026

13 Sep 2026

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* Houthi forces and Saudi Arabia trade strikes as fighting over the critical Bab al-Mandeb chokepoint on the Red Sea coast of Yemen continues.
* US President Donald Trump says the Houthis have called Washington, asking it not to intervene in the conflict against Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

7 Updates

* 2m ago
(01:00 GMT)
!Analysis
Iran more likely to seek nuclear weapon after years of escalation
Alan Eyre, a former US negotiator on the Iran nuclear deal and distinguished diplomatic fellow at the Middle East Institute, says Iran is now more likely to seek a nuclear weapon than it was during negotiations over the 2015 agreement.
“You can’t remove Iran’s capacity to build a nuclear weapon,” Eyre told Al Jazeera. “They’ve learned how to enrich, so all you can do is modify their intention.”
He said parts of Iran’s nuclear hardware had since been destroyed and could be rebuilt, but the country’s technical knowledge had continued to advance.
“Their knowledge about how to build centrifuges, how to enrich at higher levels in vaster quantities, has accelerated,” he said.
Eyre said that made it less likely Iran could be returned to the restrictions it previously accepted and “more likely that they will seek a nuclear weapon”.

* 22m ago
(00:40 GMT)
Houthis accuse Israel of continuing Gaza assassinations with US, Board of Peace support
Yemen’s Houthi political bureau has accused Israel of continuing assassinations and ceasefire violations in Gaza with direct US support and what it described as cover from countries in the Board of Peace.
The statement came as the group offered condolences over the reported killing of Mohammed Abdulsalam al-Yazouri, described as the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade and a member of the Qassam Brigades’ military council, in an Israeli strike on Gaza.
The Houthis said the killings would not weaken Palestinian armed groups and called for continued support for the Palestinian cause.
They also urged firm opposition to what they described as Israeli violations against Muslim holy sites, particularly Al-Aqsa Mosque.
!US President Donald Trump (C) sits between Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan (L) and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev during a signing ceremony for the Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on January 22, 2026 in Davos, Switzerland.
*US President Donald Trump (C) sits between Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan (L) and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev during a signing ceremony for the Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on January 22, 2026 in Davos, Switzerland. \[File: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]*

* 31m ago
(00:30 GMT)
Two wounded by Houthi projectile near Saudi border with Yemen
A Houthi projectile wounded two people in an area along Saudi Arabia’s southern border with Yemen, according to the Saudi civil defence directorate.
Several buildings and vehicles were also damaged in the attack in Jazan’s Al-Tuwal governorate on Saturday, it said.
The civil defence directorate said its “teams in Al-Tuwal Governorate, Jazan Region, responded to an incident involving a projectile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia, resulting in two injuries and material damage to a mosque, several buildings, and vehicles”.
*Read more here.*
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* 42m ago
(00:20 GMT)
!Analysis
Iran unlikely to give up control of Strait of Hormuz, former US diplomat says
Alan Eyre, a former US diplomat and a fellow at the Middle East Institute, says Iran is unlikely to give up control of the Strait of Hormuz because Tehran increasingly sees the waterway as its main source of strategic deterrence.
Eyre told Al Jazeera that Iran’s leadership is focused above all on preventing future attacks by the US and Israel.
“It sees control of the strait as the only way of doing that,” he said. “That’s not a chip it’s going to bargain away.”
He said Washington and Gulf states may therefore have to accept Iranian control of the strait “at least as a short-term reality” if they want to limit the damage to the global economy.
He added that diplomacy had increasingly shifted away from Washington towards Gulf states and Iraq, saying the US was “unwilling and unable” to sustain the kind of diplomacy needed.

* 52m ago
(00:10 GMT)
!Opinion
Will the Houthi attacks force the activation of the Mecca Pact?

By
Riaz Khokhar
Yemen’s Houthi rebels havecapturedMocha port and now threaten to control the main waterway of the Bab al-Mandeb strait. They have also attacked several cities in Saudi Arabia, wounding about 70 people, including women and children.
The repeated attacks against Saudi energy, civil and defence facilities, combined with the maritime blockage by Iran and its Yemeni partner the Houthis, directly raise the question of the Mecca Pact’s operationalisation between Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Pakistan.
The Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia can activate the mutual defence agreement. If that happens, what could a Pakistani and Turkish intervention look like?
*Read more here:*

*The foreign ministers of Turkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia attend the first committee meeting under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, in Istanbul on August 31, 2026 \[Murad Sezer/Reuters]*

* 59m ago
(00:03 GMT)
A recap of recent developments

+ Saudi Arabia and the Houthis have exchanged strikes after the Iran-aligned group seized full controlof Yemen’s Red Sea coast.
+ Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says his country will not yield to US pressure, accusing Washington of targeting civilian infrastructure and essential supplies.
+ Iran is expected to meet with Gulf states in Oman on Monday to discuss security and navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
+ Saudi Arabia has suspended operations along its East-West oil pipeline as a precaution following a drone attack launched from Iraq. Riyadh is holding off on immediate retaliation to give Iraqi authorities time to prevent further strikes.
+ US President Donald Trump claims the Houthis reached out to Washington, asking it not to intervene in their conflict with Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
+ Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, marking their highest-level talks since the escalation began.
+ A Palestinian has died from injuries sustained during an Israeli air strike targeting vehicles in Khan Younis, located in the southern Gaza Strip.
* 1h ago
(00:01 GMT)
Welcome to our coverage
Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of the United States and Israel’s war on Iran.
Stay with us for the latest news and analyses from across the Middle East and beyond.
You can find our updates from Saturday, September 12, here.
!Yemeni civilians celebrate while riding in