US launches 13th night of strikes on Iran
US forces have said that they have started another round of strikes “against Iranian military targets.”
“This is the 13th consecutive night of strikes aimed to hold Iran accountable and diminish threats from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to commercial shipping,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X.
Kuwait under attack from Iranian missiles and drones, government says
The government of Kuwait has said the military is defending against drone and missile attacks from Iran.
“Kuwaiti air defenses are currently intercepting hostile missile and drone attacks following the wrongful Iranian aggression,” the military’s general staff said in a post on X on Thursday night.
German military says it will withdraw vessels from Red Sea
Germany’s navy is expected to move two vessels from the Red Sea region to the eastern Mediterranean “in the coming days,” a Defense Ministry statement said.
The ministry said it was pulling the ships due to “the volatile political situation… and the absence of any foreseeable near-term start of operations” in the Strait of Hormuz.
The ministry added that keeping the vessels deployed in the region indefinitely “represented a strain on their technical systems.”
The two vessels would be “kept in a state of readiness for deployment” and would return to the Middle East “as soon as reliable indicators for an imminent start of the mission are in place,” the statement read.
According to the AFP news agency, the ships in question are the “Fulda” minesweeper and the “Mosel” supply ship currently in Djibouti waters.
IAEA awaits US-Saudi nuclear deal verification request
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement that while it is aware of a planned US-Saudi request for the agency to carry out verification work in relation to the nuclear cooperation deal, it has not yet received such a request.
The deal discussed Wednesday would allow Saudi Arabia to build nuclear reactors using US technology, to enrich uranium and reprocess nuclear waste.
“We look forward to receiving the request for such verification and to working with the US and KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) in ensuring the implementation of those measures,” the IAEA said in a statement, according to Reuters news agency.
UN says Middle East situation is ‘out of control’
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has pushed the region to the “edge of the unimaginable.”
“The situation is getting out of control. It is teetering on the edge of the unimaginable. The region is being pulled into an ever-widening circle of confrontation. One crisis feeds another. One escalation triggers the next,” Guterres told a Security Council meeting.
“As this dynamic spreads, the political objectives are becoming increasingly obscured by the confrontation itself,” he added.
Majority of Gaza at risk of acute hunger
Over two-thirds of people in Gaza are at risk of acute hunger by the year-end due to reduced humanitarian aid flows, the global hunger monitor Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said.
The IPC said a reduction in fighting and the fact that Israel was allowing more aid into Gaza had a “significant impact, albeit unevenly across areas.”
The report also noted that most families living in Gaza were still not getting nearly enough to eat.
“Even small disruptions to humanitarian access could rapidly reverse recent gains,” the report warned.
Over 1.2 million people, or about 59% of Gaza’s population, faced acute hunger. This includes around 212,000 people in emergency conditions, the IPC said.
That figure is expected to rise to more than 1.4 million people, or 67% by December.
Currently, the majority of people in the Gaza Strip depend on aid supplies.
Israel has rejected the IPC’s findings and has consistently denied allegations that it pursued a policy of starvation in Gaza.
READ MORE — Oil prices jump as Hormuz, Red Sea crises deepen
Renewed strikes on shipping in the Gulf and the Red Sea have dealt a fresh double blow to global oil markets, pushing the price of Brent crude to over $100 per barrel for part of Thursday.
As prices climb once again, DW examines what else could keep them elevated.
Israel welcomes idea of Saudi Arabia joining Abraham Accords
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the US-Israeli war against Iran has “the possibility to expand the circle of peace.”
It pointed to the prospect of Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords — which has seen some Arab countries normalize relations with Israel — after the Saudis recently signed a nuclear deal with the US.
“As [US] President Donald Trump has said, Saudi Arabia’s joining of the Abraham Accords would be an historic leap forward for peace in the Middle East,” the Israeli prime minister’s office statement said.
France calls Houthi strikes ‘a serious escelation’
France has condemned the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen for their fresh wave of strikes on Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.
“Houthi attacks on Saudi tankers are irresponsible and a serious escalation,” a French Foreign Ministry spokesperson told reporters on Wednesday.
With shipping largely halted in the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea has served as an alternative export route for Saudi oil. The Houthis announced a maritime blockade in the region earlier this week and claim to have targeted two oil tankers.
Trump threatens ‘major military punishment’ after Houthi ship attacks
US President Donald Trump has threatened to strike Yemen and Iran if the Iran-backed Houthi rebels continue to attack ships in the Red Sea.
“A year ago the United States of America attacked, very powerfully, the Houthis, for their interference with commerce and trade, by shooting at ships. Since that time, and during our conflict with Iran, they have acted very responsibly. Unfortunately, now they are starting up again, shooting at two Saudi Arabian ships last night,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
“If they do this again, the US will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a surrogate and/or proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis themselves.”
Trump added that he was “very disappointed” with the Houthis because “they have, until now, acted very professionally and smart.”
Trump: Nuclear deal depends on Saudis joining Abraham Accords
President Donald Trump posted on Thursday that the US-Saudi nuclear deal reached a day ago is contingent on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, the bilateral agreements that saw the normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and some Middle East countries.
The US president added that the agreement with Saudi Arabia was a “Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!)” and that it pertains to non-military uses of nuclear energy.
Trump concluded his post on Truth Social saying, “The United States is not opposed to Civil (Non-Enriched) Nuclear Facilities.”
EU tells Houthis to ‘cease’ attacks on Red Sea ships
EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas called on Yemen’s Houthi rebels to halt attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
“The attack on an oil tanker in the Red Sea is unacceptable, illegal and further inflames an already volatile situation in the region,” Kallas said.
“The Houthis must cease all actions that endanger international shipping and the lives of seafarers,” she said.
The EU’s foreign policy chief added that the bloc’s naval mission to the Red Sea “remains firmly committed to protecting freedom of navigation for all.”
The statement comes after the Iran-aligned militant group said that it had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.
Days earlier, the Houthis had announced a blockade of Saudi ports in the Red Sea
Jordan says it intercepted Iranian missiles, drones
The Jordanian military said it had intercepted a salvo of Iranian missiles and drones on Thursday.
Jordan’s official Petra news agency cited the army as saying that three missiles and six drones were intercepted, while one missile “fell in a remote uninhabited area.”
It said that the barrage had wrought no casualties or material damage.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) acknowledged the attacks on Jordan in a Thursday statement, saying it had destroyed the radar of a US THAAD missile defense system, a Patriot defense system, a C-RAM radar and a helicopter hangar.
The report could not be independently confirmed.
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/us-threatens-major-military-punishment-for-houthi-attacks/live-78077811
