War spreads to Red Sea as Houthis strike Saudi tankers and Trump vows retaliation against Iran

World Donald TrumpHouthisiranIsraelTop NewsUnited Stateswar War spreads to Red Sea as Houthis strike Saudi tankers and Trump vows retaliation against Iran Trump Says Ceasefire Deal With Iran Over And Tensions Spiral After New Strikes Newsroom 24/07/2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Yemen’s Houthi fighters struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday, extending the Middle East war to a second major shipping chokepoint and prompting President Donald Trump to threaten Iran with “major military punishment” as oil prices surged past $100 a barrel for the first time since May. “If they do this again, the U.S. 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,” Trump wrote on social media. He told Axios he was considering re-launching major combat operations against Iran and was close to a decision, adding: “They haven’t received enough pain yet.” Brent crude rose more than 6% on fears that disruption could spread to block the Bab-el-Mandeb strait — the “Gate of Tears” controlling access from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and the second most important energy shipping route after the Strait of Hormuz. The number of tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz fell to just one on Thursday, its lowest since 7 May. The Houthis, who control northern and western Yemen, said they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, which has been diverting millions of barrels of oil daily via pipeline to the Red Sea to skirt Iran’s blockade at Hormuz. They said their forces struck the tankers Encelia and Layla. A maritime security source said the Encelia sent a distress call after being struck by a missile near the Saudi port of Jizan, with Saudi state news agency SPA reporting a fire at the bow. Reuters could not immediately confirm the attack on the Layla. Shipping insurance costs through the southern Red Sea doubled for some companies, sources said. Several tankers have already changed course to avoid the strait, heading north through the Suez Canal or taking the longer route around Africa. 13TH CONSECUTIVE NIGHT OF STRIKES The Houthi attacks came as the US military launched strikes on Iran for a 13th consecutive night. Iranian state media reported missiles striking Qeshm Island on the Strait of Hormuz on both Thursday and Friday nights. Four people were killed and five injured in a US missile strike on the Iranian city of Ahvaz, state broadcaster IRIB said. Iran struck back across the region. It said it attacked US missile systems, weapons and fuel storage sites in Jordan as well as military posts in Kuwait. Jordan’s army said it engaged four Iranian missiles and six drones, intercepting all but one missile, which fell in an uninhabited area. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they struck a US electronic warfare unit at Al-Adiri base in Kuwait, claiming unspecified casualties; neither the United States nor Kuwait reported casualties at the base. Iranian military spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said Iran would keep retaliating for as long as the US continued to strike its infrastructure and coastal areas, state TV reported. Trump said on social media that “any and all damages” to cargo ships would be paid for with “Iranian Money” — a reference to frozen Iranian assets held by the United States — without specifying how. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warned the move set a dangerous precedent. “Seizing another nation’s assets to pay for unrelated future claims is an incendiary precedent,” he wrote on X. “No one’s assets were safe once governments normalised such confiscation. Ensuing chaos will not be pretty or peaceful.” RUSSIA INTELLIGENCE CONCERNS Four people familiar with US intelligence told Reuters that Iranian strikes on CIA targets in the Gulf earlier in the war had prompted American intelligence agencies to investigate whether Russia was assisting Iran with targeting information or drone technology. Sources in Iran and Yemen also told Reuters that Iran had flown Revolutionary Guard commanders, military advisers and missile- and drone-related equipment into Yemen days before the Houthis announced their Red Sea blockade. The Houthis dismissed the report. CONGRESS PUSHES BACK High oil prices are stoking inflation globally and putting Trump’s Republican allies under pressure ahead of November’s congressional elections. The Republican-led House of Representatives backed legislation on Thursday directing Trump to halt military action against Iran in the latest congressional rebuke — though repeated similar resolutions in recent months have not stopped the fighting. The Senate voted hours later to block a separate, similar measure. Since the war began in February, Iran has demonstrated a sustained ability to strike US targets across the region, despite Trump’s early claims that American strikes had wiped out Iranian military capabilities. (Reuters) Read more: Rubio says US still willing to negotiate over Iran war Subscribe to our Newsletter Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world. 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