Iran-US war latest: Tehran-backed Houthis move to seize Yemen highlands as Trump ‘calls off strikes’

The Iran-backed Houthis are pushing to seize strategic heights in Yemen and cut off the Red Sea coast ​from remaining areas held by Saudi-backed forces.

The Houthis continued with their lightning advance after US president Donald Trump reportedly called off American strikes on the group at the last minute.

The New York Times reported that the Trump administration had prepared to launch airstrikes against the Houthis on Sunday, after receiving fresh pleas from the Saudi crown prince.

However, Trump called off the airstrikes at the last minute, even as troops were loading bombs onto aircraft, according to the report.

Rashid al-Alimi, the Riyadh-based president of Yemen's Saudi-backed, internationally-recognised government, asked Trump by phone on Sunday for US ​military help, four sources told Reuters.

Riyadh was apparently struck on ⁠Saturday for the first time since the escalation began, with explosions heard and smoke visible near the airport. The Houthis said they had fired missiles at the Saudi capital; the Saudis have not commented.

Meanwhile, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian was on his way to New York for the UN General Assembly, just days after Donald Trump threatened to “blow the entire nation up”, referring to Iran.

G7 foreign ministers have called on Iran to end its arming ⁠and support of Houthis in Yemen, which they said constituted a dangerous pattern of escalation ⁠that ​risked undermining ⁠international trade and creating global instability.

"We condemn ⁠in the strongest terms ​the ⁠unacceptable continued strikes carried ‌out by the Houthis in Yemen and against the ‌Kingdom of Saudi ‌Arabia," the ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan ⁠and the US said in a statement.

"We call on ‌the Houthis to immediately ​cease all military actions, ‌all threats ⁠and attacks against civilian ⁠shipping, and to return to the ‌political ​process in ‌good faith."

Oil prices gained this morning as the market steadied after several days of declines, with investors awaiting developments on potential US-Iran talks at the United Nations General ​Assembly this week.

The Brent crude futures November contract gained 22 cents, or 0.22 per cent, ‌to $100.57 a barrel. The WTI October contract, which expires on Tuesday, crept up 2 cents, or 0.02 per cent, to $95.8 a barrel.

Houthi fighters pushed to seize strategic heights in Yemen to cut off the Red Sea coast ​from remaining areas held by Saudi-backed forces, after a report that US president Donald Trump had called off American strikes on the group at the last minute.

The New York Times reported that the Trump administration had prepared to launch airstrikes on Sunday against the Houthis after fresh pleas from the Saudi crown prince. But the newspaper said Trump called off the airstrikes at the last minute, even as troops were loading bombs onto aircraft.

Rashid al-Alimi, the Riyadh-based president of Yemen's Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government, asked Trump by phone on Sunday for US ​military help, four sources told Reuters.

Riyadh was apparently struck on ⁠Saturday for the first time since the escalation began, with explosions heard and smoke visible near the airport. The Houthis said they had fired missiles at the Saudi capital; the Saudis have not commented.

Saudi Arabia's airstrikes on the strategic Red Sea port city of Mokha killed at least six people and wounded eight others, the Houthi-backed media reported this morning.

"Six civilians, including two children and a woman, were killed and eight others, including a child and a woman, were injured in Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on Mokha," Saba news agency reported.

While the Iran war will feature prominently in the talks, the main focus of the 24 September meeting is on whether the leaders will signal an extension to a trade truce struck last year that averted a major shock to the global economy.

Hiring an oil supertanker to load in the Persian Gulf and transit the Strait of Hormuz cost as much as $1m a day earlier this month as the Iran war weighs on global shipping.

That figure, shared by maritime-intelligence firm Windward, is worth around a quarter of the current value of crude oil, and goes some way towards explaining its inflated price.

With Yemen’s Houthi rebels now squeezing the Bab el-Mandeb strait, prices are likely to continue to climb, with fewer alternative routes available to bypass Hormuz.

According to the Wall Street Journal, operators are now also constrained in by a shortage of oil tankers, slowing deliveries and compounding costs for consumers.

Adi Imsirovic, a former energy trader and lecturer at Oxford University, told the Journal: “What matters for refiners is the delivered cost of the crude, and that includes freight. The price at the pump includes all of it and the consumer has to pay the full price.”

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been slammed for having influencers Jake and Logan Paul deliver a motivational speech at the Pentagon.

​The Paul brothers, who have both been linked to President Trump, spoke at the Pentagon a day before National POW/MIA Recognition Day - which honors prisoners of war and those missing in action.

​A spokesperson for the Defense Department touted the brothers’ visit with a video shared online, which was captioned: “Last Thursday, we welcomed Logan and Jake Paul to the Pentagon to meet with our warriors.”

Conflict in the Middle East has raised concerns among holidaymakers with trips booked to Turkey.

Turkey, a popular holiday destination, is considered by the UK Foreign Office (FCDO) a generally safe place for travel, yet the UK government is still warning of an “unpredictable” situation with attacks that “could resume at short notice”.

Aside from ongoing conflict in the region, there are other factors that travellers need to bear in mind when visiting.

The US government has urged its citizens to reconsider all travel to the Middle East as tensions continue between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

In the latest conflict escalation in the Middle East, Iranian-supported Houthis, a military group in Yemen, have engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including civilian airports.

This came after the group launched a lightning offensive around the narrow Bab el-Mandeb strait, a vital waterway in the region, especially for Saudi oil exports.

Chinese president Xi Jinping will meet with Donald Trump in the United States on Thursday for a summit expected to centre on a possible extension to a trade truce that averted a major shock to the global economy last year.

A shift in fortunes has tempered expectations this time around, with Xi in no rush to make concessions and Trump constrained by the costly war with Iran.

Washington still sees Xi as uniquely able to exert pressure on Iran to bring an end to the war that has dragged Trump’s approval rating to the lowest of his political career. China buys 80-90 per cent of Iran’s total crude oil exports.

But so far, Xi has shown little inclination to do so. Reuters earlier this month reported that Beijing is selling billions of dollars' worth of goods to Iran through a sanctions-evasion scheme. China's foreign ministry says it is not aware of such a scheme.

US threats last month of secondary sanctions on countries doing business with Iran - which Bessent called an "Economic D-Day" - appear not to have yet been wielded against Tehran's largest trading partner.

That is more evidence, analysts say, that Trump is eager to keep relations with Xi steady as he focuses his energies elsewhere - an arrangement that also suits the Chinese leader.

"Both Xi and Trump feel it's quite helpful to have stability in the relationship so that they can focus on more pressing things," said Ruby Osman, senior geopolitical researcher at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

"For Trump, that is Iran. For Xi, that is building out China's domestic resilience for whatever comes after Trump."