*War Death Toll Mounts: Israel, 23; US, 13 Soldiers,Civilians In Gulf Bases; Iran, Over 1900; Over 20,000 Injured; Lebanon, Nearly 1100
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have confirmed that they launched an attack on Israel for the first time since the outbreak of the Israel-US war on Iran, marking their entry to the conflict just hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US expected to conclude military operations within “weeks, not months.”
While Israel was again hitting targets across Iran’s capital, Tehran, today, it identified what it said was a missile launched from Yemen.
The Houthis said the attack came after continued targeting of infrastructure in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories, adding that their operations would continue until the “aggression” on all fronts ends.
Casualties around the Middle East continue to mount. Nineteen people have died in Israel, while four Israeli soldiers have also been killed in Lebanon. Thirteen US military members have died, as well as civilians on land and sea in the Gulf region.
In Iran, more than 1,900 people had been killed and at least 20,000 injured, said Maria Martinez of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Others estimate lower numbers.
Houthi involvement in the war could risk broadening the conflict, given their ability to strike targets far beyond Yemen and disrupt shipping lanes around the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea, which they had done in support of Hamas in Gaza after the 7 October attacks on Israel.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, after meeting G7 Foreign Ministers in France, Rubio said of Iran: “When we are done with them here in the next couple weeks, they will be weaker than they’ve been in recent history.”
But soon after, US media reported an Iranian attack on a base in Saudi Arabia wounded at least 12 American soldiers, two of them seriously.
The attack on the Prince Sultan airbase in Saudi Arabia included at least one missile and several drones, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified officials.
The soldiers were inside a building at the base when it was struck, according to reports. Several aerial refuelling planes also suffered damage in the attack.
Tussle For Control Of Hormuz Strait, Iran Adamant, Trump Mulls Resort To Military Force
With stock markets reeling and economic fallout from the war extending far beyond the Middle East, Trump is under growing pressure.
It is caused by Iran’s continuing chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is usually shipped.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had turned back three ships trying to transit the strait, adding that all shipping “to and from ports of allies and supporters of the Israeli-American enemies” was prohibited from passing.
“This morning, following the lies of the corrupt US President claiming that the Strait of Hormuz was open, three container ships of different nationalities … were turned back after a warning from the IRGC Navy,” the Guards said on their Sepah News website.
Rubio said ensuring the strait remained open to shipping was likely to pose an “immediate challenge” even after the US accomplished its military objectives in Iran.
He said Iran may seek to set up a toll on the strait, which he said could cause economic damage to many countries.
“Not only is this illegal, it’s unacceptable … and it’s important that the world have a plan,” Rubio said.
The Secretary of State said the UK was taking a “prominent role” in efforts to reopen the strait, after Trump dismissed the British aircraft carriers as “toys” on Thursday.
The US has ordered thousands of US marines and elite airborne troops to the region, possibly in preparation for a military effort to forcibly reopen the waterway by seizing one of the many islands in the Gulf, or Kharg Island, which is Iran’s principal oil export hub -something that would bring the Tehran regime to its knees.
On Friday, Esmael Saghab Esfahani, one of Iran’s Vice-Presidents, threatened to attack Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu, as well as the vast coastal Fujairah oil complex in the United Arab Emirates, should any ground invasion take place.
“Step on to Iranian soil, and $150 becomes the floor for oil,” Esfahani wrote on X.
Trump has also issued Iran with an ultimatum, saying that if it does not allow free passage of shipping through the strait by 6 April, he will order the destruction of Iran’s energy plants. The US President pushed back the deadline of a previous ultimatum that he had set for last Monday.
Update On Claimed ‘Ceasefire’ Talks With Iran
There is little clarity over the exact status of any contacts between mediators such as Pakistan or Turkey and Iran and the US.
Rubio said Iran had sent “messages” but not a response to Washington’s 15-point proposal, which Pakistan passed on to Iran earlier this week.
Details Of US Peace Proposal
The US proposal included demands ranging from the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear programme to the curbing of its missile development and effectively the handing over of control of the strait of Hormuz, according to sources and reports.
An Iranian official told Reuters that senior Iranian officials had reviewed the proposal and felt it served only US and Israeli interests. But they said diplomacy had not ended.
On Thursday, Trump had said that talks were continuing “despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others” and were “going very well”.
*PHOTO CAPTION: A building in Israel destroyed during an Iranian missile strike.
