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Yemen

April 4, 2025

Sanaa 3:26 pm

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A February 6, 2025 photo shows the US Treasury in Washington, DC. Opponents to US President Donald Trump say he allowed Elon Musk -- the world's richest man and a major government contractor -- to break the law by accessing US Treasury payment systems that send out trillions of dollars and hold a welter of sensitive personal data. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

US sanctions Russia-based network for aiding Houthis as strikes continue

The sanctions target several individuals based in Russia accused of assisting Houthi official Sa’id al-Jamal, who has been under US sanctions since 2021.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth participates in a TV interview outside of the White House on March 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. Hegseth visited the White House to join U.S. President Donald Trump in announcing the Next Generation of Air Dominance (NGDA) program, the F-47, the sixth-generation high-tech Air Force fighter to succeed the F-22 Raptor. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

What the Signal chat leak reveals about Trump’s Middle East policy

Washington is reeling from an unprecedented leak of the military’s operational plans to strike Yemen’s Houthis, which were shared on a Signal group chat that included a high-profile journalist.

The United States aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson, anchored off the coast at Tien Sa Port on March 5, 2018 in Danang, Vietnam.

Pentagon sends second aircraft carrier to Middle East as Trump warns Iran

The USS Carl Vinson is expected to vastly increase Washington's strike capabilities in the Gulf region as Trump gives Tehran a two-month deadline to reach a new nuclear agreement.

US President Donald Trump speaks to the media during a guided tour of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts before leading a board meeting, on March 17, 2025, in Washington.

Trump's Middle East strategy faces scrutiny as Gaza reignites

As the civilian death toll climbs in Gaza, can the self-proclaimed peacemaker president get both sides back to the negotiating table?

Latest News

US looks to bolster Middle East defenses as strikes against Houthis ramp up

An F18 Hornet fighter jet lands on the 330 meters navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on May 8, 2018.

Analysis

Can US halt Houthi attacks without getting embroiled in Gaza, Yemen wars?

Men check the damages in an area struck by a US airstrike in Huthi-controlled Sanaa on March 20, 2025. Israel said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on March 20, as the Iran-backed Huthi rebels claimed to have targeted Ben Gurion international airport. The United States, Israel's main backer, has pledged to hit Yemen with lethal and overwhelming force until the Huthis stop their harassment campaign. (Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Analysis

With rial in free fall, Trump’s warning to Iran over Houthis poses strategic dilemma

A man pays using Iranian rials at a shop, in Tehran on July 31, 2019. - The government in sanctions-hit Iran on Wednesday approved a plan to remove zeros from the rial and rename the currency -- something its people have long been doing to simplify transactions. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Pentagon lays out goals for Yemen strikes after Trump warns Iran not to intervene

Yemenis in Sanaa watch a televised statement by the Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree announcing the rebel group launched an attack on a US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea on March 16, 2025.

Jennifer Gnana

Gulf Correspondent

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

NUSA DUA, INDONESIA - JULY 08: The Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi (R) greets the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luigi Di Maio (L) during arrival of the G20 Foreign Ministers and Head of Department at the Grand Ballroom Mulia Hotel on July 08, 2022 in Nusa Dua, Indonesia. (Photo by Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images)

Interview

EU escorted over 200 ships in Red Sea amid Gulf maritime threats, envoy says

The Gulf states are supporting the EU's Operation Aspides to counter the Houthi threat in the Red Sea region, as both seek greater cooperation on maritime security, said Luigi di Maio.

Luigi di Maio

Luigi di Maio

EU Special Representative for the Gulf

This aerial photo taken on June 22, 2021, shows cargo containers stacked at Yantian port in Shenzhen in China's southern Guangdong province.

Analysis

How Trump could squeeze shipping firms impacted by Red Sea crisis

Xeneta, an ocean freight intelligence platform, warned Nov. 6 that shipping container rates grew by 70% during the last Trump administration.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

US President Donald Trump arrives at a Make America Great rally in Mesa, Arizona, Oct. 19, 2018.

How pro-Iran armed groups reacted to Trump's victory

Representatives from Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis doubt that the US president-elect will fulfill his campaign promise to end the ongoing wars in the region.

JOHN WESSELS/AFP via Getty Images

Gulf governments silent as Iran, proxies mourn Hamas' Yahya Sinwar

Regional governments have not commented on Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar’s killing by Israeli forces in Gaza, but Iran and its proxy groups mourned his death, vowing that the resistance against Israel will continue.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 30: A container ship departs the Port of Newark for the Atlantic Ocean on September 30, 2024 seen from New York City. A massive strike that could shut down ports across the East and Gulf coasts could begin at midnight as members of the International Longshoremen’s Association continue to make salary and other demands to the United States Maritime Alliance, which controls many of the ports across the country. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Red Sea, Iran energy threats amplify 2025 global economic risks as trade wars, Trump loom

Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

In an aerial view, container ships sit docked at the Port of Oakland on May 21, 2024, in Oakland, California.

Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd to partner on Africa route avoiding Red Sea

Gemini Cooperation will use the Cape of Good Hope network, which has been the alternative transit route for hundreds of vessels since the Houthis stepped up their attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea in mid-November 2023.

A man walks across from a raging fire at oil storage tanks a day after Israeli strikes on the port of Yemen's Houthi-held city of Hodeidah on July 21, 2024.

Analysis

How an Israeli retaliation on Iran could impact Gulf energy flow

Energy facilities along the east and west of the Arabian Peninsula brace for possible Israeli attacks against Iran and its proxies.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

A cargo ship is docked at the port of Yemen's Huthi-held city of Hodeida on July 28, 2024. Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi entity denies its ship hit as Houthis claim attack on Greek tanker

Saudi Arabia's national shipping company Bahri denied reports that its tanker Amjad came under attack by the Houthis, the Yemeni armed group that has stepped up attacks on oil tankers in the Red Sea.

Houthi ships

Two oil tankers come under attack in the Red Sea, sources say

Oil tankers transiting the Red Sea are facing renewed dangers while transiting one of the world's most critical chokepoints for crude.

Aspides

Houthis allow Greek tanker ablaze in Red Sea to be towed to safety

The Iran-backed rebels said they were responding to concerns by the European Union that the tanker endangered maritime and environmental safety in the Red Sea.

Footage of greek vessel

EU warns Greek tanker ablaze in Red Sea poses maritime, environmental risks

The MV Sounion was carrying 150,000 tons of crude oil from the southern Iraqi port of Basrah when it was attacked by Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Debris litters a loading dock a day after Israeli strikes on the port of Yemen's Houthi-held city of Hodeida on July 21, 2024.

Analysis

Israel’s Yemen attack against Houthis warning to nuclear Iran

While concerns grow in Israel over the continued drone and missile attacks by the Houthis in Yemen, the real threat remains that of Iran.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense