With his kingdom under attack, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince on Tuesday reached out to Egypt for support against Yemen’s Houthi rebels who have disrupted key shipping routes, contributing to a spike in the cost of oil around the world. Egypt is unlikely to offer military help to Saudi Arabia, but the country is influential in the Arab world and can help rally support. Separately, a Houthi official said Tuesday that Saudi warplanes struck Yemen, killing three people, including two children. The U.S. military, meanwhile, said it destroyed two Iranian boats. And a new appeal went out from the Iranian government seeking volunteers to learn how to handle assault rifles. Here’s a look at the latest news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here. Saudi, Egyptian leaders meet in Cairo Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman travelled to Egypt to see President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Tuesday. Neither side gave firm details on any future steps, though el-Sissi’s office said there was “unwavering” support for the Red Sea neighbor. Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline will be largely shut down for weeks as it is repaired after attacks by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, officials say, likely taking several million barrels of oil a day off the market. Houthi fighters have made remarkable advances, seizing the Red Sea port of Mokha and three strategic islands in and near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The U.K. prime minister’s spokesman, Tom Wells, said the Houthis “must cease their attacks immediately” and said Saudi Arabia and Yemen “have the right to defend themselves.” 3 killed in Saudi airstrikes in Yemen’s southwest, Houthis say Anees al Asbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi-run Health Ministry, said on X that Saudi airstrikes killed three people, including two children, in Yemen’s Taiz province. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the claim, and al-Asbahi didn’t say what the Saudi warplanes had targeted. The renewed fighting in Yemen is endangering civilians and threatening shipping through the Red Sea, a route that has become more important due to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, sparking the war. Yemen’s UN ambassador says forces are working to constrain Houthis Yemen’s forces are working to prevent Houthi rebels from threatening the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and international navigation, the country’s UN envoy said Tuesday. Ambassador Abdullah Al-Saadi told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that Yemen’s armed forces are regrouping and regaining control, and he vowed that the Houthis “will once again fail to turn any battleground gains into a reality.” He said the fight against the Houthis and their attempt to control a key corridor for global energy and trade has become an international issue which calls for effective implementation of the UN arms embargo against the Houthis. Yemen is home to over 40 million people who fear a return to the civil war that killed 150,000 and brought many others to the brink of famine in one of the world’s most sprawling humanitarian crises. Yemenis flee violence but fuel is a factor A fuel shortage in Yemen is hampering the movement of people attempting to flee the country and cross the Red Sea for Djibouti, officials said. More than 2,000 Yemenis are in Djibouti. More than 100,000 others are internally displaced in Yemen, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR. “We cannot allow those who have sought refuge among us to suffer,” Djibouti Finance Minister Ilyas M. Dawaleh said on X. In a post on X, the UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said that he had allocated US$9 million from an emergency fund to provide assistance to the displaced in Yemen and the communities that are hosting them. U.S. says 2 Iranian boats destroyed The U.S. military says it “forcefully responded” against two Iranian boats that were trying to steal a drone ship in the waters off Iran. The drone involved is a “Saildrone,” a small craft that can operate by itself, Capt. Tim Hawkins, U.S. Central Command spokesman, said Tuesday. CENTCOM has been using them to surveil maritime traffic. Iranian state media reported Monday that a pair of fishing boats came under attack in Hormozgan province and that several fishermen were missing, citing a provincial official. Iran seeks volunteers to ‘sacrifice their lives’ Iran’s state TV reported that civilians are being recruited to learn how to use assault rifles, the second such recruitment effort since the U.S. and Israel began an air war against Tehran. The move is seen as a show of defiance as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to restart the war with Iran as months of negotiations break down and the Islamic Republic keeps its grip on the Strait of Hormuz. The volunteers are known as “Janfada” or the “ones who sacrifice their lives.” The appeal suggests more armed hard-liners could also help suppress any demonstrations against Iran’s theocracy. Israeli strikes kill 7 people in Gaza, officials say The strikes took place throughout the day and into Tuesday night, with two children among the dead, local health officials said. Strikes were reported in Gaza City, northern Gaza and the southern city of Khan Younis, according to hospital officials and the Health Ministry. Israel’s military said the first strike killed a Hamas commander. Israel’s military did not respond to a request for comment on the other strikes. The heaviest fighting between Israel and Hamas has subsided since a ceasefire last October, but Israeli fire has killed at least 1,375 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health officials in the territory. Oman official calls for alternative energy routes to Strait of Hormuz Oman’s Minister of Energy and Minerals Salim Al-Aufi called for alternative routes for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, either through Oman or through Yemen. He spoke at the world’s largest natural gas conference, Gastech, in Bangkok. Abdul Rahman Al Yahyaei, CEO of Oman’s state-owned Integrated Gas Company (IGC), said the closure of Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline “means more stress in the market, high prices for both gas and oil, and it means more disruption to global supplies.” Separately, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the foreign minister of Oman to discuss the Gulf Arab country’s efforts to salvage a U.S.-Iran ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the State Department said.
