Iranian-backed Houthis kill 6 in attack on vessel, and other
developments in the Mideast
[August 12, 2026]
Yemeni authorities said six people were killed by Iran-backed Houthi
rebels attacking a vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, while U.S. forces
fired on a ship they said was trying to break a blockade of Iran's
ports.
Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider
Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
4 crew members and 2 allied fighters killed, Yemen says
Six people were killed Tuesday by Houthis firing missiles on a vessel in
the Bab el-Mandeb strait, Yemeni authorities said.
Yemen's coast guard said the dead included four crew members and two
members of the government-allied National Resistance Forces. Houthis
fired three ballistic missiles at the Yemeni commercial vessel,
according to the Transportation Ministry of Yemen’s internationally
recognized government.
They are the first known deaths from Houthi attacks on shipping off
Yemen in the latest bout of fighting in the Arab country.
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut down by Iran, there has been
a renewed focus on the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb strait at Yemen’s
southern tip, which is an alternate route for Saudi Arabia to ship its
oil.
The deadly vessel strike came amid Houthi attacks on the government-held
port city of Mokha on the Red Sea and other areas of the country. Dozens
of government troops and civilians have been killed in attacks since
last week, according to the Yemeni military.
The strikes are part of an escalation by the Houthis against government
forces in Yemen and oil facilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia, which
supports the Yemeni government, and the kingdom’s shipping in the Red
Sea.
The Houthi attacks could reignite Yemen’s civil war following a 2022
truce, and open a new front in the Middle East war.
Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Houthis’ chief negotiator and spokesperson,
accused Saudi Arabia in a social media post of exploiting the ceasefire
to tighten an air and sea blockade it imposed in 2015.
He said the Houthis are open for negotiations but any settlement must
include lifting the blockade.
US fires on ship it said was trying to break blockade of Iran
The U.S. military said Tuesday that its forces fired on a
Panamanian-flagged ship in the Gulf of Oman that tried to evade the
American blockade on Iranian ports. The move came as U.S. President
Donald Trump tries to keep economic pressure on the Islamic Republic.
U.S. Central Command said the vessel had ignored warnings to stop,
prompting an American helicopter to fire missiles into the engine room
of the M/V Vela Nova, disabling the ship. The statement did not say
whether the ship’s crew suffered any casualties.
Trump on Tuesday night insisted that the U.S. military has “total
control” over the Strait of Hormuz, despite the fact that Iran has kept
up its attacks on ships in the waterway, largely impeding traffic there.
“Iran is going fine, going just absolutely fine,” he told reporters
after a trip to Ohio. “We totally control the Strait of Hormuz. We have
control over it. Nobody else. Only us,” Trump said.
Central Command said it has redirected 55 commercial vessels attempting
to run the blockade, disabled three noncompliant vessels and boarded
two. The U.S. Navy currently has more than 15 warships, including two
aircraft carriers and an amphibious assault ship, stationed in the
waters of the Arabian Sea.
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This image taken from video broadcast by Al-Masirah TV, a
Houthi-controlled news channel, shows an explosion at the Sanaa
International Airport compound during what the Iranian-backed Houthi
rebels in Yemen said were several Saudi airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen,
July 13, 2026. (Al-Masirah TV via AP, File
Iran has refused to back down on demands that the U.S. end its
blockade of Iranian ports, lift sanctions on the Islamic Republic
and fulfill other conditions.
Iran effectively closed the strait after Israel and the U.S.
attacked the country on Feb. 28. Attacks on the key waterway —
through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil supplies
passed before the war — and uncertainty around its future have kept
energy prices a major focus of U.S. politics ahead of November’s
midterm elections.
Pakistani official returns to Iran hoping to ease tensions with
US
Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi traveled Tuesday to Tehran
for meetings with Iran's foreign minister and other officials.
Naqvi's visit aimed to encourage Iran to resume negotiations with
the United States under an interim peace deal brokered by Pakistan
in June, two officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity
because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted photos from his
meeting with Naqvi on his private Telegram channel.
It is Naqvi's sixth trip to Iran as part of Pakistan’s diplomatic
efforts to ease tensions between Iran and the U.S.
—Munir Ahmed in Islamabad
Israel criticized at UN meeting over West Bank violence
Five European nations on the Security Council called a meeting
Tuesday as Britain’s new U.N. Ambassador Sarah MacIntosh condemned
escalating violence across the West Bank, calling settler attacks on
Palestinian villages, some alongside Israeli soldiers, “appalling.”
Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour said Israeli annexation of
Palestinian territory is already “underway -- brutally and
relentlessly.” He urged international action to chart a path for
Palestinian self-determination and “freedom.”
Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon responded by saying: “Israel
condemns all violence against Israelis and Palestinians” and “does
not tolerate extremism — we confront it.”
Danon said “extremist attacks" by Israelis are declining and accused
council members of ignoring “rising” attacks by Palestinians.
Former Syrian President Assad sentenced to death in absentia
In Syria, a court sentenced former President Bashar Assad along with
his younger brother to death for crimes against humanity and war
crimes during Syria’s 14-year conflict that left about half a
million people dead.
Assad and his brother Maher, who fled to Russia after insurgents
marched into Damascus in December 2024, were sentenced in absentia
at the Fourth Criminal Court in the Syrian capital.
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