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Yemen

April 8, 2026

Sanaa 8:39 am

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Members of Houthi security forces stand guard while supporters of Yemen's Houthi movement attend an event commemorating the ninth anniversary of the Saudi-led intervention in their country, in the capital, Sanaa, on March 26, 2026.

Exclusive

Senior Houthi official says Bab el Mandab closure an option if any Gulf states join war

Houthi Deputy Information Minister Mohammed Mansour also said the strait could be closed “should the aggression against Iran and Lebanon escalate.”

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Saudis shop for fresh products at a market in Riyadh on Feb. 18, 2026, on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Saudi Arabia.

Analysis

Alternative supply routes emerge as Iran war tests Gulf food security

Roughly 61 million people in the Gulf rely on established food supply chains, many of which have been upended since the United States and Israel launched their attack against Iran on Feb. 28.

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

Riyadh

Analysis

In Saudi Arabia, Erdogan fosters security alignment, $30B trade push

The Turkish president’s visit cemented Ankara and Riyadh’s accelerating convergence as regional crises mount and Gulf rivalries sharpen.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Galaxy Leader

Yemen’s Houthis hint at Red Sea attacks as US-Iran tensions rise: What to know

The Houthi warnings come as a US aircraft carrier accompanied by several guided missile destroyers entered Gulf waters amid tensions with Iran.

Latest News

Thousands rally for South Yemen independence amid Saudi diplomatic push

AFP via Getty Images

Egypt's economy can weather more Red Sea attacks, says finance minister

Ships sail along Egypt's Suez Canal near Ismailia on April 16, 2025.

From Egypt to Lebanon: What’s at stake for regional states on Trump’s visa ban list?

From Iraq to Yemen, how Iran proxies are responding to protests

Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 9, 2026.

Yemen’s rival sides begin largest-yet prisoner swap

The Houthi rebels and the Aden-based government agreed last month to exchange 1,081 prisoners.

Head of the Houthi prisoner exchange committee Abdulkader al-Murtada (C - L) shakes hands with Head of the Yemeni government delegation Hadi Haig (C - L) between ICRC Director for the Near and Middle East Fabrizio Carboni (L) and UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths at the end of a week-long meeting on a Yemen prisoner exchange agreement on September 27, 2020 in Glion, western Switzerland. - Both sides in Yemen's war have agreed to exchange more than 1,000 prisoners, the UN mediator during a week of

Yemen's Houthi rebels release two US citizens in prisoner swap

Officials from Saudi Arabia and Oman helped negotiate the release

A woman sits outside a tent at a displaced persons camp in the Khokha district of Yemen's western province of Hodeida, on May 6, 2020. - Almost six years of war between the Yemeni government and tenacious Iran-backed Huthi rebels has pushed millions to the brink of famine in the country ill prepared to face the new threat. Squalid camps for internally displaced people like the one in Al-Khokha, outside the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, are ideal breeding grounds for disease, with little chance for proper sa

UN’s Yemen envoy urges end to clashes in Hodeidah

Martin Griffiths said he was alarmed by reports of casualties among civilians, including women and children.

Saudi Arabia warns of ‘oil spot’ near aging tanker off Yemen's coast

UN officials have described the FSO Safer, an aging vessel that contains 1.14 million barrels of light crude oil, as a ticking time bomb.

Major General Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim (C), chief of intelligence of the administration of Yemen's Huthi rebels in control of the capital Sanaa, and other Huthi officials attend an official parade commemorating the sixth anniversary of the Huthi takeover of the capital Sanaa on September 20, 2020. (Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Stakes high in Yemen's Marib province for Houthis, Saudis

Yemen’s Houthi rebels face fierce resistance from the Saudi-backed government forces in the oil-rich province of Marib.

State Department officials testify before Congress on arms sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE

The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said the May 2019 sale did not warrant an emergency certification, but a State official cited the threat from Iran.

A picture shows the extensive damages at the National Museum in Yemen's third city of Taez on July 13, 2020. - The two faces of the National Museum in Taez, southwest Yemen, are testament to the ravages of the war that has consumed the Arabian peninsula country. One side has been beautifully restored to its former grandeur, recalling a traditional palace from an earlier Arab civilisation. (Photo by AHMAD AL-BASHA / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-BASHA/AFP via Getty Images)

Arms from Iran, Western countries prolonging Yemen’s war: UN

A panel of UN investigators found all of Yemen's rival factions have violated international law and in some cases, may have committed war crimes.

A Yemeni health worker sterilizes a classroom in a school amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the capital Sanaa, on August 29, 2020, ahead of the new school year starting in early September. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Audio: Despite enormous challenges, Yemen’s educators return to classroom

Yemen's ongoing civil war, cholera and coronavirus outbreak and a lack of paychecks have failed to deter intrepid educators from opening school doors this week.

Yemen’s warring parties urged to reveal whereabouts of detainees

A group of eight human rights organizations called on Yemen's rival factions to urgently release all of their arbitrarily detained prisoners.

A Yemeni labourer removes the rubble ahead of restoration works on the site of a collapsed UNESCO-listed building following heavy rains, in the old city of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, on August 12, 2020. - Flash floods triggered by torrential rains have killed at least 172 people across Yemen over the past month, damaging homes and UNESCO-listed world heritage sites, officials said. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Yemen’s warring sides blamed for destruction of heritage during heavy rainfall

Yemen is trying to save its cultural heritage by appealing to UNESCO and the international community, after many of its historic cities have started collapsing due to heavy rains.

Al-Qaeda executes dentist in Yemen

Al-Qaeda in Yemen killed a dentist in Yemen on spying charges and then tied his body on a makeshift cross as the country slides deeper into lawlessness and chaos.

Democratic Party platform criticizes possible Israeli annexation of West Bank, Saudi role in Yemen

Parts of the platform approved at the Democratic National Convention this week have been both praised and criticized by Israel- and Iran-focused groups in Washington.