Where things stand
• Airstrikes hit Iran: Heavy bombardment continued across Tehran, with explosions hitting multiple parts of the Iranian capital. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened to hit US and Israeli university campuses in the region, in retaliation for strikes on Iranian education institutions.
• Talks in Pakistan: Islamabad is hosting discussions on de-escalating the war with the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The four countries have been involved in mediation efforts.
• More troops arrive: The USS Tripoli, carrying 3,500 sailors and Marines, has arrived in the Middle East, said US Central Command, as the Pentagon weighs its next steps.
• Houthis enter war: Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels waded into the Middle East conflict, announcing that they fired two missiles at Israel. The movement previously disrupted shipping lanes in the region, attacking vessels in the Red Sea in retaliation for Israel’s war against Hamas.
With Houthis in the war, another strait is under threat
For the past month Iran has choked off the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices skyrocketing and panicking global markets. On Saturday, the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels entered the war, bringing the vulnerabilities of another critical waterway sharply into focus.
The Houthis have hinted they may attack shipping in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a narrow gap between Yemen and Africa through which around 12% of total seaborne-traded oil passes, according to the US Energy Information Agency.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels announced their entry into the Iran war and said they launched ballistic missiles against Israel on Saturday. CNN's Jim Sciutto explains what this could mean for key shipping routes in the region.
Like the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab al-Mandab is a chokepoint – its name translates to the Gate of Tears, because of its challenges navigating it. It is 29 kilometers (18 miles) across at its narrowest point – making huge container vessels particularly vulnerable to attack.
That’s exactly what the Houthis – who control the territory on its eastern shore – have done before, hitting more than 100 ships in response to Israel’s military action on Gaza following the October 7, 2023 attacks.
Unlike the Strait of Hormuz, however, there is an alternative route. Ships sailing between Asia and Europe can bypass Bab al-Mandab by traveling around Africa. But that comes at a huge logistical cost.
“For instance, a voyage from Rotterdam to Singapore via the Suez Canal and Bab al-Mandab takes roughly 27 days, whereas rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope extends the journey to about 40 days,” Muyu Xu, senior crude oil analyst at Kpler told CNN.
And while far from the oil fields of the Middle East, any closure of the Bab al-Mandab could still impact the movement of its crude.
Since traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was severely curtailed, Saudi Arabia has begun re-routing its oil exports to the port of Yanbu on its Red Sea coast.
Any closure of the Red Sea’s southern exit could complicate that, said Kpler’s Xu.
Ships “will have to take a much longer route, sailing westward through the Suez Canal and then around the Cape of Good Hope to transport Saudi oil to Asia. This journey would take nearly 50 days to China—more than double the time required via the Bab al-Mandab.”
CNN’s Tim Lister contributed reporting.
Pakistan capital beefs up security ahead of high-level talks aimed at de-escalating war
The foreign ministers of Egypt and Turkey are in Pakistan, with Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister expected to arrive in the coming hours for four-way talks on regional issues, including de-escalating the US and Israeli war with Iran.
The four countries have been involved in mediation efforts as the war, now in its second month, threatens their energy security and borders.
NATO member Turkey has said multiple missiles launched from neighboring Iran have been shot down over its airspace since the war began. Saudi Arabia has come under daily missile and drone attacks from Iran.
Pakistan, which has cordial ties with both the US and Iran, has emerged as a key intermediary in the current bout of diplomacy, delivering a 15-point peace plan proposed by Washington to Tehran.
Pakistani defense analyst Lieutenant General (Retired) Muhammad Saeed told CNN it was not realistic to expect the talks to lead to a “quick breakthrough.”
It was possible the discussions could work towards what “could be conveyed through Pakistan to the Iranians on behalf of the leadership of the Gulf countries,” he told CNN.
“Let’s hope that there is some communication the Saudis bring for conveying to Iran certain conditions that if Iran agrees to, maybe the Saudis will start playing a very proactive role for mediation and engagement with the West and US,” he said.
Ahead of the talks, expected to get underway Sunday afternoon local time, there was a high security presence in Islamabad where Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs is located, according to CNN journalists.
What to know about the Houthis, the Iran-backed Yemen rebel group that entered the war
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis on Saturday announced that they fired missiles at Israel as they entered the widening conflict in the Middle East. The Israeli military had earlier said it detected a missile from Yemen.
Who they are
The Houthi movement, also known as Ansar Allah (Supporters of God), is one side of the Yemeni civil war. It emerged in the 1990s, when its leader, Hussein al-Houthi, launched “Believing Youth,” a religious revival movement for a centuries-old subsect of Shia Islam called Zaidism.
The Zaidis ruled Yemen for centuries but were marginalized under the Sunni regime that came to power after the 1962 civil war. Al-Houthi’s movement was founded to represent Zaidis and resist radical Sunnism, particularly Wahhabi ideas from neighboring Saudi Arabia. His closest followers became known as Houthis.
Yemen’s civil war began in 2014, when Houthi forces stormed the capital Sanaa and toppled the internationally recognized and Saudi-backed government. The conflict spiraled into a wider war in 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition intervened in an attempt to beat back the Houthis.
A ceasefire was signed in 2022, but it lapsed just after six months. Warring parties have not, however, returned to full-scale conflict.
Houthis’ allies
The Houthis are backed by Iran, which began increasing its aid to the group in 2014 as the civil war escalated and as its rivalry with Saudi Arabia intensified. Iran has provided the group with weapons and technology for, among other things, sea mines, ballistic and cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles, according to a 2021 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The Houthis form part of Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance - an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias backed by the Islamic Republic.
How powerful is the group?
American officials have been tracking iterative improvements in the range, accuracy and lethality of the Houthis’ domestically produced missiles. Initially, home-grown Houthi weapons were largely assembled with Iranian components smuggled into Yemen in pieces, an official familiar with US intelligence told CNN previously.
They have previously used drones and anti-ship missiles to target commercial ships – some of which aren’t believed to be linked to Israel – prompting the USS Carney, a warship in the Red Sea, to respond to distress calls.
Tehran under heavy bombardment overnight
Heavy bombardment continued across Tehran on Sunday morning, with explosions hitting multiple parts of the Iranian capital.
In the last hour, the state-affiliated Fars news agency reported several explosions in the city, after earlier waves of attacks overnight into Sunday.
Video posted by state media claimed to show the aftermath of an attack on a residential neighborhood in western Tehran on Saturday evening.
A reporter at the scene after dark said that no one was killed, but nine people were injured in a strike that had damaged more than 20 apartment units.
The video, which was posted to the Telegram channels of both Fars News and Mehr News, shows the side of what appears to be a residential building blown apart, a kitchen and lounge covered in rubble, and cars coated in thick dust.
The Israeli military said it hit temporary command centers and weapons production sites in the Saturday strikes on “the heart of Tehran.”
Houthi involvement in war may bring new threat to shipping
The Houthis’ entry into the Middle East conflict may put the region’s oil exports and shipping at even greater risk.
The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed for a month. The Houthis can threaten another critical chokepoint - the Bab al-Mandab Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels announced their entry into the Iran war and said they launched ballistic missiles against Israel on Saturday. CNN's Jim Sciutto explains what this could mean for key shipping routes in the region.
The Bab al-Mandab translates as Gate of Tears, because of its challenging navigation. It is 29 kilometers (18 miles) across at its narrowest point.
More than 30 million tonnes of natural gas passed through the strait in the first 11 months of 2023, as well as vast amounts of container traffic and 12% of total seaborne-traded oil, according to the US Energy Information Agency.
But the Houthis then began targeting merchant ships in the Red Sea after Israel launched military action in Gaza following the October 7 attacks. More than 100 ships were struck before the Houthis declared a pause in attacks last November.
Those attacks forced hundreds of vessels to re-route around the Cape of Good Hope, lengthening voyage times – and increasing costs.
An Iranian source told the country’s semi-official Tasnim News that if US forces tried to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, “they should be careful not to add another strait to their challenges … Iran is fully prepared to escalate the situation.”
Since traffic through Hormuz was severely curtailed, Saudi Arabia has begun re-routing its oil exports to the port of Yanbu on its west coast through a pipeline that is capable of handling 7 million barrels a day. Tanker traffic in the Red Sea has spiked as a result.
Mapping the expanding Middle East conflict
Yemen’s Houthi rebels waded into the Iran war Saturday, launching ballistic missiles at Israel for the first time in the current conflict.
This map provides a glance at the scope of the evolving war:
More US troops arrive in the region and Houthis fire missiles at Israel. Here's the latest
Adding to the military presence in the Middle East, a US Navy ship carrying 3,500 sailors and Marines has arrived in the region.
And a new front has opened in the war after Iran proxy, the Houthis, fired missiles at long-time foe Israel.
Here’s the latest as the war enters its 30th day.
- US deployment: The USS Tripoli, carrying 3,500 sailors and Marines, has arrived in the Middle East, said US Central Command, as the Pentagon weighs its next steps. CNN reported earlier this month that a Marine Expeditionary Unit would be deployed to the region. Such units have traditionally been used for missions like large-scale evacuations and amphibious operations that require ship-to-shore movements, including raids and assaults.
- Houthis enter war: The Houthi rebels – a Yemen-based, Iran-backed militia – waded into the expanding Middle East conflict, firing two missiles at Israel. The movement previously disrupted shipping lanes in the region, attacking vessels in the Red Sea in retaliation for Israel’s war in Gaza. Its involvement now raises the specter of further disruption for a global shipping industry already buffeted by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
- Strait latest: Iran has agreed to allow 20 ships under Pakistani flags to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Islamabad’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said. Under the agreement, two ships will cross the strait daily, he added.
- Tehran hit: Iranian state-affiliated media is reporting heavy bombardment across Tehran, including in civilian areas, saying explosions hit multiple parts of the capital on Saturday evening.
- Campus threat: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it will target American- and Israeli-affiliated universities in the region in retaliation for recent attacks on Iranian higher-education centers. The IRGC said the institutions are now considered “legitimate targets until two universities are struck.”
- Fire and sirens in the Gulf: Nations in the Gulf were again under air-raid sirens early Sunday. Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior urged citizens to take shelter and “remain calm” as it sounded its alarm. Kuwait News Agency reported that the Ministry of Defense was responding to what it described as “hostile missile and drone attacks.”
