Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis fired on Saudi oil installations in two ports on the Red Sea coast on Saturday, but the United States held back from launching air strikes on Iran itself for the first night in two weeks. There was no immediate explanation from Washington of why it had abruptly halted a streak of 13 nights of escalating strikes since an interim deal to end hostilities collapsed, in retaliation for Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. “It seems that our dear Iran had a peaceful night last night,” Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said on X. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday there was no military solution to the escalating conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, after both sides traded attacks. “We believe that there is no military solution to the issue of Yemen, Bab Al Mandab, and other regional issues,” said Araghchi in an interview published on Saturday by the state-run Iran Daily newspaper, calling for “dialogue.” He said the situation in Yemen “cannot be attributed to Iran” and that the incidents in the Bab Al Mandab Strait were “rooted in old disputes and issues between Yemen, Saudi Arabia [...]
