Israel says it intercepted first incoming missile from Yemen as war in Middle East intensifies

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel’s subject said it intercepted a rocket launched from Yemen toward Israel aboriginal Saturday and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels aboriginal claimed work for the attack, their archetypal since the warfare successful the Mideast started.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a subject spokesperson for the Houthis, claimed work successful a connection aired Saturday greeting connected the rebels' Al-Masirah outer television. The imaginable introduction to the warfare of the Houthis calls into question whether the radical volition again people commercialized shipping traveling done the Red Sea corridor.

Sirens went disconnected astir Beer Sheba and the country adjacent Israel’s main atomic probe halfway for the 3rd clip overnight Friday into Saturday arsenic Iran and Hezbollah continued to occurrence connected Israel overnight. Loud explosions besides filled the aerial successful Tel Aviv and Israel’s Fire and Rescue Service said it was responding to 11 antithetic interaction sites crossed the metro area.

Israel had struck Iran’s atomic facilities hours aft threatening to “escalate and expand” its run against Tehran connected Friday. Iran vowed to retaliate and struck a basal successful Saudi Arabia, wounding U.S. work members and damaging planes.

More than 2 twelve U.S. troops person been wounded successful Iranian attacks connected Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan aerial basal successful the past week, according 2 radical who person been briefed connected the matter. Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones astatine the basal successful the Friday onslaught that injured astatine slightest 15 troops, including 5 seriously, according to the radical who were not authorized to remark publically and spoke connected the information of anonymity.

The basal astir about 96 kilometers (60 miles) from the Saudi superior of Riyadh came nether travel onslaught doubly earlier successful the week, including a onslaught that injured 14 U.S. troops, according to the radical briefed connected the matter. The basal is tally by the Royal Saudi Air Force but besides utilized by U.S. troops.

In Lebanon, authorities said much than 1,100 radical person been killed since the commencement of the war. The Associated Press is present calling Israel’s subject actions successful confederate Lebanon an invasion. Israel has moved thousands of troops crossed the borderline into Lebanon, and Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants person been warring connected the crushed for astatine slightest 3 weeks.

U.S. stocks experienced a further driblet Friday. The S&P 500 sank 1.7% to adjacent retired its worst week since the Iran warfare started and its 5th losing week successful a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.1%. Meanwhile, crude lipid prices continued to soar.

With U.S. state prices approaching $4 a gallon, members of Congress person been pushing to suspend the national gasoline tax, acceptable astatine 18.4 cents per gallon connected gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon connected diesel fuel. U.S. President Donal Trump suggested states should look astatine suspending their substance taxes.

Involvement of Houthis could further complicate the war

Saree said the Houthis fired a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting what helium described arsenic “sensitive Israeli subject sites” successful confederate Israel. The onslaught came hours aft Saree signaled successful a vague connection Friday that the rebels would articulation the war.

The Houthis person held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014, and truthful acold had stayed retired of the warfare arsenic the rebels person had an uneasy ceasefire for years with Saudi Arabia, which launched a warfare against the radical connected behalf of Yemen’s exiled authorities successful 2015.

Attacks connected vessels during the Israel-Hamas warfare upended shipping successful the Red Sea, done which astir $1 trillion worthy of goods passed each twelvemonth earlier the war. The rebels besides fired drones astatine Israel.

In 2024, the Trump medication launched strikes against the Houthis that ended weeks later. The U.S.-led run against the Houthi rebels, overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas warfare successful the Gaza Strip, turned into the astir aggravated moving oversea conflict the Navy had faced since World War II.

The Houthi rebels attacked implicit 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking 2 vessels and sidesplitting 4 sailors, from November 2023 until January 2025. That would origin further chaos successful planetary shipping, which already is reeling from Iran’s stranglehold implicit the Strait of Hormuz, the constrictive rima of the Persian Gulf done which a 5th of each lipid and earthy state erstwhile passed.

The imaginable engagement of the Houthis successful the warfare besides would complicate the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the craft bearer that went to larboard successful Crete connected Monday for repairs. Sending the bearer backmost into the Red Sea could gully it into the aforesaid precocious tempo of attacks seen by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower successful 2024 and the USS Harry S. Truman successful the 2025 American run against the Houthis.

Israel strikes Iranian atomic facilities

Israel focused its attacks Friday connected sites “in the bosom of Tehran” wherever ballistic missiles and different weapons are produced, the subject said. It said it besides deed rocket launchers and retention sites successful Western Iran, portion witnesses successful eastbound Tehran reported a partial powerfulness outage pursuing airstrikes.

Iranian authorities media said Friday that 2 atomic facilities had travel nether attack. Israel, which had threatened to “escalate and expand” its run against Tehran, claimed responsibility, and Iran rapidly threatened to retaliate.

“Iran volition nonstop HEAVY terms for Israeli crimes,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said via X.

Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said the Shahid Khondab Heavy Water Complex successful Arak and the Ardakan yellowcake accumulation works successful Yazd Province were targeted, IRNA reported. The strikes did not origin immoderate casualties and determination was nary hazard of contamination, it said. The Arak works has not been operational since Israel attacked it past June.

Yellowcake is simply a concentrated signifier of uranium aft impurities are removed from the earthy ore. Heavy h2o is utilized arsenic a moderator successful atomic reactors.

The Israeli subject aboriginal said earthy materials are processed for enrichment astatine the Yazd works and the onslaught was a large stroke to Iran's atomic program.

Seyed Majid Moosavi, IRGC’s Aerospace Force commander, said connected X that employees of companies tied to the U.S. and Israel should wantonness their workplaces: “This time, the equation volition nary longer beryllium ‘an oculus for an eye,’ conscionable wait.”

Late Friday, Israeli authorities said Iran had launched missiles astatine the state that killed a 52-year-old antheral successful Tel Aviv. Sirens alerted radical to question structure successful and astir Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Beer Sheba and areas adjacent the country's main atomic probe center, which were targeted by Iranian strikes that injured dozens past weekend.

Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said it changeable down missiles and drones targeting the capital, Riyadh. In Lebanon, the Health Ministry said 2 radical were killed.

Kuwait said its Shuwaikh Port successful Kuwait City and the Mubarak Al Kabeer Port to the north, which is nether operation arsenic portion of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative. China has continued to acquisition Iranian crude.

Trump renews telephone for Israeli-Saudi ties

Speaking successful Miami astatine an lawsuit sponsored by the Saudi sovereign wealthiness fund, Trump reiterated his tendency for those 2 countries to normalize relations.

The president has been pressing the 2 biggest powers successful the Middle East connected that for years arsenic portion of his Abraham Accords efforts, and helium said the clip volition beryllium close erstwhile hostilities extremity with Iran.

“It’s present time,” helium said. “We’ve present taken them out, and they are retired bigly. We got to get into the Abraham Accords.”

Significant headwinds remain, including Saudi Arabia’s insistence that determination needs to beryllium a credible way to a Palestinian authorities earlier it normalizes commercialized and diplomatic ties with Israel.

Diplomacy proceeds alongside US unit buildup

Word of the attacks connected Iran came aft Trump claimed that talks connected ending the warfare were going “very well” and that helium had fixed Tehran much clip to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran maintains that it has not engaged successful immoderate negotiations.

With banal markets reeling and economical fallout from the warfare extending acold beyond the Middle East, Trump is nether increasing unit to extremity Iran's chokehold connected the strait.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington delivered a 15-point “action list” to Iran for a imaginable ceasefire, utilizing Pakistan arsenic an intermediary. It proposes restricting Iran’s atomic programme and reopening the strait.

Iran rejected the connection and presented its ain five-point connection that included reparations and designation of its sovereignty implicit the waterway.

Trump has said if that Iran doesn't reopen the strait to each postulation by April 6, helium volition bid the demolition of Iran’s vigor plants.

Diplomats from respective countries including Pakistan and Turkey person tried to signifier a nonstop gathering betwixt U.S. and Iranian envoys. Separately, G7 overseas ministers gathering Friday successful France formally asked for an contiguous halt to attacks against populations and infrastructure.

U.S. ships drew person to the portion carrying immoderate 2,500 Marines, and astatine slightest 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne trained to onshore successful hostile territory to unafraid cardinal positions and airfields person been ordered to the Middle East.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. “can execute each of our objectives without crushed troops.” Following the G7 meeting, Rubio said the deployments are designed to guarantee “maximum accidental to set to contingencies should they emerge.”

Israel sent the 162nd Division into confederate Lebanon to enactment efforts to support its bluish borderline towns from Hezbollah attacks and uproot the militant group, the subject said.

Death toll climbs

Nineteen radical person died successful Israel, portion 4 Israeli soldiers person been killed successful Lebanon.

Authorities dais implicit 1,900 radical person been killed successful Iran. The U.N.’s International Organization for Migration said Friday that 82,000 civilian buildings successful Iran, including hospitals and the homes of 180,000 people, are damaged.

At slightest 13 American troops person been killed, and 4 radical successful the occupied West Bank and 20 successful Gulf Arab states person besides died.

In Iraq, wherever Iranian-supported militia groups person entered the conflict, 80 members of the information forces person died.

Possible breakthrough with assistance and cultivation shipments

There appeared to beryllium a breakthrough arsenic Tehran agreed to let humanitarian assistance and cultivation shipments done the Strait of Hormuz, accepting a petition from the U.N. Ali Bahreini, the country’s ambassador to the United Nations successful Geneva, said Iran agreed to “facilitate and expedite” specified movement.

The captious waterway usually handles a 5th of the world’s lipid shipments and astir a 3rd of the world’s fertilizer trade. While markets and governments person mostly focused connected blocked supplies of lipid and earthy gas, the regularisation of fertilizer ingredients and commercialized threatens farming and nutrient information astir the world.

“This measurement reflects Iran’s continued committedness to supporting humanitarian efforts and ensuring that indispensable assistance reaches those successful request without delay,” Bahreini said connected the societal level X. The U.N. earlier announced a task unit to code the ripple effects that the warfare has had connected assistance delivery.

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Magdy reported from Cairo, Madhani from Washington and Gambrell from Dubai.

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