Bombay Durpun - Yemen's Houthis enter war as attacks take economic toll

The intervention of Iran's Yemeni allies in Tehran's conflict with Israel and the United States will spark concern about disruptions to Red Sea shipping, with trade from the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz already choked off.

With Hormuz all but impassable, many shipments to and from the region go through the Omani port of Salalah, on the Arabian Sea, but Danish shipping giant Maersk said operations had been temporarily suspended there after a drone attack injured one worker and damaged a crane.

Pakistan, which has been a go-between between US and Iranian officials, is to host foreign ministers from regional powers Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt in Islamabad on Monday for talks on the crisis.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has thanked Islamabad "for its mediation efforts to stop the aggression", and Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul had said on Friday that he expected a direct US-Iran meeting in Pakistan "very soon".

US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Friday he believed Iran would hold talks with Washington within a week. "It could solve it all," he said.

The war began when the United States and Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across Iran, killing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, engulfing the Middle East in conflict and triggering global economic pain by sending oil and gas prices soaring.

With no end to the conflict in sight despite Trump's optimism that US forces have obliterated Iran's military, a spokesman for the Houthis issued a video statement declaring that the group had launched ballistic missiles towards Israeli bases.

A few hours earlier, the Israeli military had said it had "identified the launch of a missile from Yemen toward Israeli territory, aerial defence systems are operating to intercept the threat".

There were no reports of any casualties or damage in Israel, and the missile was reportedly intercepted.

- Red Sea shipping -

During Israel's recent war in Gaza the Houthis, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians, attacked shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

But, until Saturday, they had sat out the latest conflict, which has only seen the Red Sea grow in importance.

Saudi Arabia has diverted a large proportion of its oil exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran says it has closed to shipping from hostile powers.

Iran's military said on Saturday that it had targeted a US logistics vessel near the Omani port of Salalah on the Arabian Sea. Oman said a drone attack on the port wounded a foreign worker.

Air travel has also been disrupted. On Saturday, authorities in Kuwait and in the city of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan said airport facilities had been damaged in strikes.

Fire also broke out after Iranian missiles and drones hit the Khalifa Economic Zone Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, injuring six people. The firm Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) reported significant damage from the attack on its facility.

In Iran, meanwhile, production was shut down at a major steel plant in the southwest after US-Israeli strikes, according to a statement from the Khuzestan Steel Company, cited by the Shargh newspaper.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have warned they will retaliate for any economic damage by striking industrial sites across the region, having earlier issued similar warnings for US military bases and hotels hosting American troops.

The Guards also said that they had found and dismantled more than 120 unexploded cluster bombs, alleging they were dropped during US and Israeli attacks several days ago on the southern province of Fars.

Israel announced fresh strikes on Tehran and an AFP journalist in the city reported around 10 intense blasts and a plume of black smoke overnight.

Pezeshkian sent a message to other countries in the region, warning: "If you want development and security, don't let our enemies run the war from your lands."

- Ukraine drone deal -

An Iranian missile and drone attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on Friday wounded at least 12 American soldiers, two of them seriously, according to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified officials.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky left his own war-torn homeland for a visit to the Gulf to discuss using his country's experience in anti-drone technology to better defend the region from Iranian strikes.

"We are talking about a 10-year cooperation. We have already signed a relevant agreement with Saudi Arabia, we have just signed a similar agreement with Qatar, also for 10 years, we will sign one with the Emirates," Zelensky told reporters.

Qatar announced a fresh missile interception on Saturday, its first in a little over a week.

Thailand on Saturday joined a handful of nations that have announced they were able to secure safe passage for their oil tankers through Hormuz with Iranian approval.

Indonesia said it was in "positive talks" to secure the same exemption.

burs-dc/smw

R.Prakash--BD