Saudi crown prince goes to Egypt for support against Houthi strikes, and
other Mideast developments
[September 16, 2026]
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 traveled 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.”
Saudi military says it shot down drone near Mecca
Saudi military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki said its air
defense forces intercepted and destroyed a drone Tuesday evening before
it entered the airspace over Mecca, Islam’s holiest city and a focal
point for followers of the faith. It’s the birthplace of Prophet
Muhammad, where Muslims believe he first received God’s revelations of
the Quran, and the location of the Kaaba, the black, cube-shaped
structure that Muslims around the world turn to five times a day when
praying.
The security of the holy city is “a red line,” he said, adding that
Saudi forces will not hesitate to act against “hostile and terrorist
behavior.”
The Houthis denied firing drones toward Mecca.
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 U.N.
envoy said Tuesday.
Ambassador Abdullah Al-Saadi told an emergency meeting of the U.N.
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 U.N. 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.
Saudi Arabia’s U.N. envoy told the U.N. Security Council the Houthis’
latest escalation threatens one of the most important international
waterways “with economic consequences far exceeding this region" and
that protecting the waterways should be an international responsibility.
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In this photo provided by the Egyptian Presidential Press Office,
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, left, and Egyptian President
Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, shake hands at the Presidential Palace in
Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (Egyptian Presidential Press
Office via AP)
“The conduct by Houthi militias, their sponsors and master
puppeteers, has shown that they are now militarizing international
straits to blackmail the global economy,” Ambassador Abdulaziz
Alwasil said, without naming the Houthis’ Iranian backers.
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 U.N. 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 U.N.’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said
that he had allocated $9 million from an emergency fund to provide
assistance to the displaced in Yemen and the communities that are
hosting them.
US 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.
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