Yemen’s Houthis target tankers in Red Sea as US launches another night of strikes on Iran
Times of Israel · LC · trust 52/100
The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they unfold.
Iran’s army says it carried out drone attacks on bases in Kuwait hosting US military assets.
In a statement carried by state media, the military says it hit warehouses, fuel tankers and an ammunition depot at the al-Doha, al-Salem and Arijfan bases in the Gulf country.
Meanwhile, Iranian state media reports that two US missiles hit Bushehr, home to the country’s only civilian nuclear plant and a frequent target of Washington, in overnight airstrikes.
It also claims the US attacked Shalamcheh on the Islamic Republic’s border with Iraq, killing two people.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says Thursday they stopped three oil tankers from transiting the Strait of Hormuz, as the United States and Iran vie for control over the route through which around one fifth of the world’s oil passed before the war.
“The Strait of Hormuz is under our control… and any ship that is deceived by the US and intends to pass without coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran will suffer the same fate,” the IRGC says in a statement.
The statement comes after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels reported hitting tankers in the Red Sea, after threatening to target Saudi ships transiting the similarly important Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Two Chinese very large crude carriers carrying a combined 4 million barrels of Saudi Arabian oil are heading toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Thursday, shipping data shows.
Millions of barrels per day of Saudi oil have been heading to the kingdom’s Red Sea port of Yanbu to avoid the Strait of Hormuz. If shipments cannot pass through the Red Sea’s southern strait, they have only the northern route through the Suez Canal, adding weeks and costs to the journey.
The Houthi threat to impose a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia could significantly widen the war and strain the US military, current and former US officials say.
The US military says it has completed its latest round of strikes on Iran at President Donald Trump’s direction, marking the 12th successive night of American attacks.
According to a CENTCOM state,emt, the strikes hit Iranian “maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, and air defense assets.”
“This month, American forces have targeted dozens of Iranian military sites on land while resuming a blockade against Iran at sea,” the statement adds. “As of today, CENTCOM has redirected nine commercial vessels and disabled one to prevent ships from entering or departing Iranian ports.”
A Saudi-owned vessel, the ENCELIA, was targeted while sailing in the Red Sea, causing a fire at the front of the ship, Saudi state news agency SPA reports, citing an official source at the General Transport Authority.
The source says all crew members are safe and that authorities have taken necessary measures to secure the vessel and crew and protect the marine environment.
The US House of Representatives narrowly passes its version of a massive defense policy bill, despite Democrats’ concerns about its huge price tag, the Iran war and a provision that would boost Pentagon ties to Israel.
The fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which authorizes an unprecedented $1.15 trillion in spending for the military, passes the House by 216 to 212.
The vote is largely along party lines, as all but seven Republicans vote in favor of the measure and all but six Democrats vote against.
The NDAA includes several provisions that allocate hundreds of million of dollars to US-Israel joint military projects.
Progressive Democrats sought to rally against a provision that boosted Israeli-US security cooperation, falsely claiming that it would integrate the countries’ intelligence services.
Democrats object to the huge amount of money being authorized for the Pentagon, at a time when President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans are slashing spending on social programs.
They also object to the ongoing and deeply unpopular war with Iran, which the Pentagon said has cost the US $37.5 billion so far.
Kuwait’s army says it’s intercepting hostile drones, following several days of Iranian strikes on the country.
“Kuwaiti air defenses are currently responding to hostile drone threats,” the army says in an overnight message on X. “Any explosions that may be heard are the result of air defense systems intercepting hostile targets.”
The US military says it has launched a new round of strikes on Iran at President Donald Trump’s direction, marking the 12th successive night of American attacks.
“The mission will continue to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters,” the US Central Command says in a statement.
Yemen’s Houthis says they carried out a military operation targeting two Saudi oil tankers, identified as ENCELA and LAYLIA, saying the vessels violated a naval blockade imposed by the group.
The Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, drawing a warning from the Saudi-led coalition that it would respond “firmly,” in a move that threatens to disrupt global energy supplies beyond the Gulf.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations says it has received a report of an incident 70 nautical miles southwest of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coastal city of Al Shuqaiq, adding no casualties or environmental impact have been reported.
“The master of a tanker reports being struck by an unknown projectile which has caused a fire onboard that the crew are currently fighting,” UKMTO says.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for…
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