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Live Updates: Diesel hits record $6 a gallon as, reports say, Iran-backed Houthis take key Red Sea territory - CBS News
From CBS News via USVI News: The moves by the Houthis make it easier for the Iran-backed rebels to target ships transiting the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait for Saudi Arabian oil exports.
What to know about the Iran war today:
- Yemen's Houthis have seized the key Red Sea port of Mokha. They also seized the last two islands not under their control in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a military official in the Yemeni government said. The moves make it easier for the Iran-backed rebels to target ships transiting the crucial strait for Saudi Arabian oil exports.
- Yemen government forces, supported by Saudi Arabia, said Saturday they had launched strikes against Mokha, newly in Houthi hands. Weapons and vehicles were destroyed and Houthi fighters were killed, a spokesperson said.
- Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has personally pressed President Trump to take military action against the Houthis as forces have advanced rapidly along Yemen's Red Sea coast, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, adding Mr. Trump and the crown prince have spoken multiple times in recent days about the escalating situation.
Explosions heard off coast of Qeshm in southern Iran: State media
Explosions were heard Saturday off the coast of an island located in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media said.
"A few minutes ago, the sound of two explosions was heard on Qeshm Island, coming from the direction of the sea," the official IRNA news agency said.
In recent weeks, Iran has been targeting oil tankers passing through the strategic waterway as well as U.S. bases in the Gulf countries in retaliation for the attacks carried out by the U.S. military on Iranian targets.
The United States has also targeted ships trying to break its own counterblockade of Iranian ports.
Houthis say they've liberated more than 200 prisoners in newly captured regions
Yemen's Houthis said on Saturday they had freed more than 200 of their members detained by Saudi-backed pro-government forces in areas they captured in recent days.
Houthi official Abdelkader al-Murtada said they were prisoners of war who had spent up to eight years in jail before the Iran-backed group launched a rapid offensive to take over areas bordering the Bab el-Mandab Strait.
"We have welcomed 210 of our prisoners, freed from Saudi enemy prisons on the west coast," Murtada said at a conference in the capital, Sanaa.
The Houthis had already controlled large parts of northern Yemen, including most of the country's populated areas and the major cities of Sanaa and Hodeida, before making dramatic advances last week.
Aboard the large buses taking them to the capital, the freed detainees celebrated their liberty by chanting "Death to America, death to Israel" before being welcomed by their supporters.
"I have rediscovered the taste of life. For five years I was in prison, under the yoke of aggression. For five years, I suffered every day," Mohammed Bajash told AFP.
Yemen government forces launch strikes against Houthis in Red Sea city
Yemen's Riyadh-backed government forces said on Saturday they had struck Iran-allied Houthi fighters in the strategic Red Sea city of Mokha.
Following a weeklong offensive, the Houthis on Friday captured Yemen's Red Sea coast, cementing their hold on the Bab el-Mandab Strait, a vital artery for Saudi Arabian oil exports as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed amid the U.S.-Iran war.
They had seized Mokha the day before after heavy fighting.
"The armed forces destroyed vehicles and weapons and killed members of the Houthi terrorist militia backed by the Iranian regime" near Mokha's port, the government news agency Saba reported on Saturday.
The spokesman for the Yemeni government forces, Majed Abdullah al-Nazili, said they had also struck Houthi vehicles and fighters on the Mokha-Dhubab road, just outside the city, according to Saba.
"In the past 48 hours, Saudi enemy aviation has launched 129 airstrikes distributed across the provinces of Taiz, Marib, Hodeidah, Al-Jawf, Saada, Amran, and Hajjah," a Houthi spokesperson said. "These aggressions against our people will not go unanswered and unpunished."
At least 76,000 have fled fighting in Yemen since July: U.N.
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