Trump: Iran will face ‘major military punishment’ for Houthi attacks on Saudi ships

Several Israeli mayors reopen public bomb shelters amid growing fears of Iranian attack; Rubio: Tehran ‘paying the price’ for breaking deal; Iran calls US ‘domineering,’ hits Jordan, Kuwait

US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Thursday that it would be held responsible if the Houthis in Yemen continue to target Saudi shipping, after the terror group fired on two Saudi tankers overnight.

The threat from Trump is the latest indication that a new front was opening up in the Middle East war, while fears also grew in Israel of renewed Iranian attacks. On Monday, the Houthis, an Iranian proxy group that controls western Yemen, announced that they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

A blockade on Saudi ports would further choke off the flow of oil in the Middle East, given that Iran is also obstructing shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, another key energy artery.

In his warning, Trump referenced the US’s bombing campaign against the Houthis last year, which aimed to stop their attacks on Red Sea shipping.

“A year ago the United States of America attacked, very powerfully, the Houthis, for their interference with commerce and trade, by shooting at ships,” wrote Trump on Truth Social. “Since that time, and during our conflict with Iran, they have acted very responsibly.”

“Unfortunately, now they are starting up again, shooting at two Saudi Arabian ships last night,” he continued. “Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if they do this again, the US will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves.”

On Thursday, Oman, which has attempted to mediate between the US and Iran, announced that it was now trying to broker calm between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, with the help of the UN envoy for Yemen. Oman’s foreign ministry stressed the need to avoid escalation and any threats that could worsen the situation in the Red Sea and endanger freedom of navigation.

That new effort commenced even as the US continued striking Iranian targets and Iran kept firing missiles and drones at countries in the region. Iran and the US both accused each other of hampering negotiations to end the war.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also blamed the Houthi attacks on Iran, and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called on the Houthis to immediately stop activities that endanger shipping.

“Navigation must be unimpeded, in the Strait of Hormuz as well as in the Red Sea,” she said.

Israeli mayors reopen public bomb shelters

Israel has not been involved in the latest round of fighting, or in the talks between the US and Iran. But on Thursday, the mayors of several cities announced that their public bomb shelters would reopen, indicating growing fears that Iran may renew attacks on Israel.

The announcements came from the central city of Ramat Gan, which was hard hit in previous rounds of conflict with Iran, as well as Kiryat Gat and Eilat in southern Israel and Karmiel in the north.

“The assessment is that the threat of missiles from Iran over the weekend has grown and is no longer negligible,” Ramat Gan’s Carmel Shama-Hacohen wrote on Facebook. He called on apartment supers to similarly open their buildings’ shelters.

Nonetheless, Shama-Hacohen said the move was being undertaken “out of an abundance of caution,” and noted that it was not based on any special warning from the military.

Home Front Command guidelines nationwide remained unchanged. Municipalities often decide to reopen public bomb shelters at their own initiative, while others have kept theirs open year-round regardless of security tensions.

Rubio: Iran ‘paying the price’ for breaking deal

Diplomatic efforts to end the fighting have continued, but Iran and the US traded blame as to who is at fault for the breakdown in talks. Rubio said Washington has kept its end of a deal with Iran, but that Tehran keeps reneging on agreements.

“These people make deals and then they break it almost immediately, or they decide, ‘Oh, let’s change the deal.’ That’s not how deals work,” he said on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Manila.

“So now they’re paying the price for it. And maybe they’ll change their mind here over the next few days as they continue to suffer great losses,” he added.

Rubio also said the Houthis were “suckered” into attacking Red Sea shipping by Iran.

“The Houthis largely were smart and stayed out of all this throughout the conflict, but they now apparently have gotten themselves suckered into this, going after Saudi Arabia and their ships,” Rubio said. “I hope they will de-escalate, because I think the Houthis, frankly, got snookered into this thing by the Iranians.”

But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said talks with the US could not progress due to Washington’s “domineering” stance in negotiations.

“The problem is the American approach, which is irrational, excessive, and domineering,” he told state media on the sidelines of talks between Iranian President Mahmoud Pezeshkian and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi.

“Until they understand that there is no alternative to respecting Iran’s people and their interests, there will not be the conditions for progress,” he added.

He indicated there was no point in negotiating or exchanging messages until then. “They simply need to reconsider their policies,” Araghchi said.

Iran attacks Jordan, Kuwait

The Jordanian military said four Iranian ballistic missiles and six drones launched from Iran at the kingdom were intercepted on Thursday.

Iran has been carrying out near-daily attacks on Jordan in the past week.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said earlier that it targeted a radar for the US THAAD missile defense system, a Patriot system, a C-RAM radar and a helicopter hangar in Jordan, according to a statement aired by state TV.

And Kuwait’s army said the Abdali border crossing with Iraq was hit by a drone attack on Thursday, causing material damage but no casualties.

Located in Kuwait’s northern Al-Jahra Province, Abdali is the country’s main land border crossing with Iraq and a key route for passenger and commercial traffic between the two countries.

Iran said this morning it carried out drone attacks on bases in Kuwait hosting US military assets, saying it hit warehouses, fuel tankers and an ammunition depot at three bases in the Gulf country.

It said US strikes hit a border crossing between Iran and Iraq, killing two people.