HERE IS THE LATEST
- President Trump threatened Iran and its Houthi allies in Yemen with “major military punishment” Thursday if the Houthis launch more attacks on Saudi vessels in the Red Sea.
- There are signs the U.S. is preparing to ramp up military operations in the Middle East, including an increase in the number of refueling aircraft deployed to Israel, American B-1 bombers leaving U.K. bases, and dozens more medics being sent to the sprawling U.S. base in Landstuhl, Germany.
- The Pentagon continues insisting the Strait of Hormuz is open, but traffic through the vital waterway is at a crawl, helping push global oil prices back over $100 a barrel again Thursday for the first time in over two months.
Kuwaiti army says Iraq border crossing targeted by drones
A border crossing between Kuwait and Iraq was targeted by drones, the Kuwaiti army said on X.
“The Abdali border crossing was subjected, this evening, to repeated targeting by hostile drones,” the army said, adding that the attack caused damage but no injuries.
The military later said it was intercepting Iranian drones and missiles.
The Kuwaiti army did not specify the source of the threats to the border crossing, specifically, but Kuwait has come under repeated attack by Iranian drones and ballistic missiles.
U.N. maritime agency calls for de-escalation over Houthis attacks in Bab el-Mandeb Strait
The International Maritime Organization, the U.N. maritime agency, is now condemning the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
“I unequivocally condemn the latest reported attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea area,” IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez wrote in a statement. “These attacks are indefensible. They endanger the lives of seafarers, while threatening the security of international shipping, the marine environment and the stability of global supply chains.”
The IMO has also supported free passage through the Strait of Hormuz, advising ships to use the southern route touted by the U.S. until attacks resumed recently.
This week, the Iran-backed Houthi militia based in Yemen began targeting ships in the Red Sea transiting through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. At least two Saudi-flagged oil tankers were targeted in the strait on Wednesday.
About 9% of all seaborne oil trade, both crude and refined, travels through the strait. While about 20% travels through the Strait of Hormuz, the apparent closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait would still exacerbate the current oil crisis. Oil prices crossed $100 a barrel on Thursday in response.
“The Red Sea is a critical maritime corridor for international trade,” Dominguez said. “Continued attacks on shipping in this region risk escalating tensions, further disrupting commercial routes and undermining the principle of freedom of navigation.”
“De-escalation is the only solution,” he added.
2 China-linked supertankers carrying Saudi oil transit the Bab el-Mandeb Strait
Two China-linked supertankers carrying Saudi crude oil transited the Bab el-Mandeb Strait Thursday, according to MarineTraffic, carrying a combined 4 million barrels of oil.
One of the vessels, the Singapore-flagged Xin Long Yang, “reversed course and paused in the central Red Sea on Tuesday before resuming her southbound voyage late on Wednesday,” according to the naval tracking website.
The tanker was followed through the Bab el-Mandeb by the Hong Kong-flagged Cosnew Lake.
The two 333-metre tankers departed Yanbu Industrial Port, on Saudi Arabia’s west coast, on July 20 — both were carrying oil.
Before transiting the chokepoint, both vessels updated their destinations to “CHINA CREW & OWNER,” according to the website, “replacing previously listed Chinese discharge ports.”
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, whose coastline makes up the eastern flank of the strait, claimed to have struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Wednesday, and have threatened a naval blockade of all Saudi vessels trying to get in and out of the crucial waterway.
On Tuesday, CBS News tracked at least five vessels, including several laden with Saudi crude oil, making U-turns before reaching the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, not long after the Houthis vowed to block Saudi-linked ships.
CBS
