Here's the latest
• Iran war: President Donald Trump said he would “never apologize” for taking military action against Iran, adding that he believed higher gas prices have been worth it to prevent them from having a nuclear weapon. Iran responded after Trump also said he planned to declare the Strait of Hormuz US territory, saying it “cannot be seized with a tweet.”
• Lebanon conflict: Elsewhere, seven people were killed in Israeli strikes on the south of the country on Saturday, health officials said, in the deadliest day since the June Israel-Lebanon ceasefire. The Israelis military said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure after the Iran-backed group carried out “an action” against Israeli soldiers.
• US carrier stints: The Navy is increasingly asking its carrier groups to exceed the recommended deployment duration, according to a CNN analysis, as the crew aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln face morale and mental health concerns amid their lengthy stint at sea.
What to know about the Houthis, as the wider Middle East conflict rages on
The Iran-backed Houthi militia group launched six ballistic missiles at the Yemeni city of Mocha last night, killing one person, according to Yemen’s Armed Forces.
This was the latest attack on Mocha since the conflict in Yemen escalated last week, with the Houthis claiming to be targeting Saudi forces inside the country.
Here’s what to know about the group:
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 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.
Nowadays, Sanaa is still under Houthi control, alongside much of the west of the country.
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.
Yemen's Armed Forces says one killed in Houthi missile attack on Red Sea port
One person was killed and eight injured after the Iran-backed Houthi militia group launched six ballistic missiles at Yemen’s port of Mocha on the Red Sea last night, according to Yemen’s Armed Forces.
According to preliminary information, the attack killed one member of the port’s security forces.
Two sailors are reported to be missing, while eight civilians sustained injuries, Staff Colonel Majed al-Zuraiqi, official spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, said.
Earlier, Yemen’s Foreign Minister Afrah Al-Zouba condemned the attack as “an attempt to strike one of the Yemeni people’s vital lifelines” in an X post Saturday morning local time, adding that the waters “will not become a tool for pressure in the hands of an armed terrorist group.”
Some context: Saudi Arabia has not yet commented on the strikes in Yemen. The kingdom has faced increasing attacks from the Houthis, who also declared a blockade on the al-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea on July 20.
7 killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, state media says, in deadliest day since ceasefire
Israel launched a series of airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, according to Lebanon’s state-owned National News Agency (NNA), in the deadliest day since the June ceasefire.
An airstrike destroyed a house in Ansar town, killing seven people and wounding three others on Saturday morning, NNA said. Rescuers are clearing rubble and transporting the dead and wounded to hospitals, it added.
A nearby valley was also hit, marking the first time this area was attacked since the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire was agreed two months ago, NNA reported.
Israeli warplanes also targeted a teacher’s training college and a religious building in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, around 10 miles east of Ansar, with further strikes reported in the surrounding area.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure after the Iran-backed militant group carried out “an action” against Israeli soldiers along the Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon. The IDF did not provide any details on what the Hezbollah action was.
“We will continue to operate to remove threats,” the IDF said in a statement.
"Unknown projectile" strikes ship in Strait of Hormuz, UKMTO says
An “unknown projectile” crashed into the hull of a bulk carrier in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said.
“The crew are reported safe, no damage assessment has been reported and environmental impact is unknown at present,” it added in an update on Saturday.
Commercial ships attempting to navigate in and around the Persian Gulf face the dual threats of violence in the Strait of Hormuz and Houthi attacks in the Bab al-Mandeb, meaning that there is “currently no genuinely ‘safe’ side of the Arabian Peninsula,” said maritime intelligence group Marisks in their latest intelligence update.
In a report on Friday, the UKMTO said there have been 56 reports of damage to vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and nearby waters since the US-Iran war began on February 28. Shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has remained at a fraction of pre-war levels, it added.
View our interactive on how the war has reshaped traffic on the Strait of Hormuz.
US Navy is increasingly asking aircraft carriers to stretch deployments
The USS Abraham Lincoln is in the midst of a record-setting deployment, kept out of port for more than six months as the carrier’s crew faces morale and mental health concerns. The ship may break a record for the longest trip away from its home port for a US carrier since the Vietnam War.
That record was set just months ago by the USS Gerald R. Ford after that ship completed a 326-day deployment that included operations against Iran and Venezuela.
It’s part of a pattern, with the US Navy increasingly asking its aircraft carrier groups to exceed the service’s recommended deployment duration of seven months, according to a CNN analysis of deployment announcements and the USNI News fleet tracker.
Experts and former officials have warned that the trend could place more stress on the ships and lead to burnout among sailors or even push some to leave the Navy altogether.
A crew member serving on the Lincoln described morale on the ship as very low and there were regular strains on essential amenities — toilets and water fountains around the ship frequently closed and hot water often unavailable.
Other sailors aboard the Lincoln who spoke with CNN described conditions unlike their prior deployments, largely due to the combat that has kept the carrier from making stops at friendly ports. Ships can take on new supplies and allow its sailors to rest and relax during those port calls.
The ship has experienced intermittent food shortages, low supplies of hygiene items, and problems with the water system, sailors and family members told CNN.
Trump downplays financial toll of Iran war on Americans. Here's the latest
President Donald Trump said he would “never apologize” for the war with Iran and downplayed the financial toll it has taken on Americans. “I did the right thing,” he added.
He argued higher gas prices have been worth it in his pursuit of preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon.
“For you to pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline, just remember… we don’t want to have them have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said Friday.
Catch up on the latest headlines:
- Strait of Hormuz: Trump said he plans to declare the strait a US territory after “we finish defeating Iran.” Tehran countered that, with its deputy foreign minister saying the strait “cannot be seized with a tweet, an aircraft carrier, an executive order, or a campaign speech.” Traffic in the waterway remains at less than a fifth of pre-war levels, and no genuinely safe shipping route exists in the region, according to a maritime intelligence group.
- Costly proposal: Declaring the strait a US territory would necessitate deploying troops in the area indefinitely — at the least — though Trump previously vowed to keep the war brief. Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran has not decided whether to resume negotiations with the US.
- Conflicting messages: As Trump claims he “did the right thing” in taking military action against Iran, others in his orbit have signaled a tone shift. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said keeping gas prices low and ensuring Iran never gets a hold of a nuclear weapon are of equal importance to the president. Vice President JD Vance recently said “goal number one” is “cheap” gas and oil prices for Americans, and “goal number two” is avoiding a nuclear-armed Iran.
- Crew welfare concerns: A second sailor with the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group went overboard last spring, according to a sailor currently serving on the Lincoln and two US officials. CNN previously reported on a sailor who officials said jumped into the water off of the Lincoln in early August during a mental health incident. Trump dismissed claims that families of service members on board had concerns about the conditions on the carrier and said the ship’s lengthy deployment was “not nearly long enough.”
CNN’s Laura Sharman, Aida Karimi, Mitchell McCluskey, Kit Maher, Julia Benbrook, Pamela Brown, Shoshana Dubnow, Haley Britzky, Issy Ronald, Eleni Giokos, Mustafa Qadri and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed reporting.
Strait of Hormuz traffic remains at a fraction of pre-war levels
Shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz was 17% of the pre-conflict average in the past seven days, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre.
Control of the critical waterway has become the focus of the war recently, with US President Donald Trump saying Thursday that he plans to declare it a US territory after “we finish defeating Iran.” That was met with a swift retort from Tehran, with the deputy foreign minister saying the Strait of Hormuz “cannot be seized with a tweet” or an aircraft carrier.
Only 151 ships made it in or out of the narrow waterway in the past seven days, according to the UKMTO’s latest report Friday.
There have been 56 reports of damage to vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and nearby waters since the US-Iran war began on February 28, the report said. But the tally does not appear to include the latest two attacks reported on Thursday. In a separate update, the UKMTO had reported that a vessel sustained “minor damage” after a drone attack on Thursday. And the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said two of its vessels were attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
The Southern Omani route, an alternative temporary corridor in the strait, remains the highest-risk, accounting for 16 of 18 projectile strike incidents reported by the UKMTO since July 6.
The US naval blockade is still in effect, barring ships from going to or from any Iranian port either inside or outside the strait. However, one Iranian-flagged ship was reported inbound and another outbound through the Strait of Hormuz in the past seven days.
The most common flagged ships to travel through the contested waterway were Panama and Liberia, each with 12 ships making it in or out. No US-flagged vessels were reported.
The most common type of vessel to travel through the strait was the product tanker, which typically transports refined petroleum products.
The latest figures mark a slight improvement from the previous week, when traffic was just 4% of pre-war levels, according to the UKMTO.
More on this: View our interactive on how the war has reshaped the Strait of Hormuz traffic.
Iran FM: Tehran hasn't decided whether to resume talks with US
Iran has not decided whether to resume negotiations with the US, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in the early hours of Saturday.
Earlier this week President Donald Trump said the US was “low-keying” talks with Iran. “We are only semi-negotiating with them,” he said in an interview with Axios.
Araghchi said that mediators Qatar and Pakistan have exchanged messages, but that those interactions do not constitute negotiations.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi also responded to a claim by Trump that he would declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory.
“The strait will be closed or opened solely under Iran’s authority, and as long as you refuse to accept the reality of defeat and abandon your delusions, Iran will continue enforcing the blockade,” he added.
President Donald Trump said Friday that he plans to declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory after “we finish defeating Iran.”
What Trump has said recently about the war in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz
Nearly half a year into the US-Iran war, global oil stockpiles are rapidly diminishing as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively stalled and talks between two powers at the center of the hostilities are not appearing to make progress.
But, US President Donald Trump said said he would “never apologize” for taking military action against Iran.
Here’s what he has said recently about the conflict and issues impacting Americans:
- On the Strait of Hormuz: Trump said at a rally Friday he plans to declare the waterway a US territory after “we finish defeating Iran.” He said that would happen “pretty soon.”
- On who controls the strait: Trump has repeatedly insisted that the strait is under US control. “They don’t have control. We have total control. We own it, and at some point, maybe they’ll do something, and then they get blown away,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
- On gas prices: Higher gas prices have been worth it in his pursuit of preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon, Trump argued at a Friday rally. He minimized the financial toll of the war on Americans, saying his decision to strike Iran was the “right” one. “You’re at $4. It’s okay. I mean, it’s — I’m not, I’m not, I’ll never apologize. I did the right thing,” he said.
- On USS Abraham Lincoln: Trump dismissed claims that families of service members on the aircraft carrier have concerns about conditions on board, which has been deployed for nearly nine months supporting operations in the Middle East. Instead, he claimed on Friday the ship’s deployment was in fact “not nearly long enough.”
