By Menna AlaaElDin, Nayera Abdallah and Humeyra Pamuk
CAIRO/PARIS, March 28 (Reuters) – Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis launched missiles at Israel on Saturday, their first such attack since the Iran war began, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. expected to conclude military operations within weeks.
The Houthis, whose involvement risks broadening and prolonging a war that has entered its fifth week, said their operations would continue until the “aggression” on all fronts ended. Israel said it had intercepted a missile from Yemen.
The war, launched with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands and causing the biggest disruption ever to energy supplies, hitting the global economy and fuelling inflation fears.
HOUTHIS CAN STRIKE TARGETS FAR FROM YEMEN
The Houthis had said on Friday they were prepared to act if what the group called an escalation against Iran and the “Axis of Resistance” continued in the war.
The group has shown an ability to strike targets far beyond Yemen and disrupt shipping lanes around the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea, as they did in support of Hamas in Gaza after October 7, 2023.
If the Houthis open a new front in the conflict, one obvious target would be the Bab al-Mandab Strait off the coast of Yemen, a key shipping choke point that controls sea traffic towards the Suez Canal, after Iran effectively shut the critical Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking on Friday before the Houthi attack, Rubio said Washington was “on or ahead of schedule” and expects to conclude military operations in “weeks, not months”.
He also told Group of Seven counterparts in France that European and Asian countries which benefit from trade through the Strait of Hormuz – a conduit for a fifth of global oil and natural gas supplies – should contribute to efforts to secure free passage.
The war has driven a wedge between the U.S. and its traditional allies, who have stayed on the sidelines. President Donald Trump said this lack of support had implications for NATO, the West’s most important alliance.
“We would have always been there for them, but now, based on their actions, I guess we don’t have to be, do we?” Trump told an investment forum in Miami on Friday. “Why would we be there for them if they’re not there for us? They weren’t there for us.”
The charter underlying the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which has long been led by the U.S., says an attack on one member is an attack on all, requiring them to support each other.
Rubio said the U.S. could achieve its aims without ground troops but acknowledged it was deploying some to the region “to give the president maximum optionality and maximum opportunity to adjust the contingencies, should they emerge”.
Washington has dispatched two contingents of thousands of Marines to the region, the first of which is due to arrive in coming days on a huge amphibious assault ship. The Pentagon is also expected to deploy thousands of elite airborne soldiers.
The deployments have raised concerns that the war could turn into a prolonged ground battle.
MORE STRIKES WHILE TRUMP SPEAKS OF NEGOTIATIONS
Stock markets tumbled sharply on Friday on fears the conflict will drag on, while the Brent crude oil benchmark topped $112, up more than 50% since the war began.
In the U.S., where Trump is politically vulnerable to rising fuel prices, diesel in California hit a record average high of $7.17 a gallon, the American Automobile Association said.
Trump has appeared eager to wind down the unpopular war, emphasising this week what he called productive negotiations with Iran aimed at reaching a diplomatic end to the conflict.
Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey have been relaying messages between the warring sides, though Tehran has repeatedly asserted that there have been no such negotiations with Washington.
Two people familiar with the back-channel efforts expressed doubt that direct talks would take place anytime soon.
On Thursday, Trump extended a deadline by 10 days for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks against power stations and other energy infrastructure. While those strikes were on hold, the U.S. and Israel have continued to bomb Iran.
Iran launched multiple waves of missiles at Israel overnight, killing one and causing several impacts in the Tel Aviv area from cluster munitions and debris from intercepted missiles.
An Iranian attack on an air base in Saudi Arabia wounded 12 U.S. military personnel, two seriously, a U.S. official told Reuters on Friday, as drones and missiles continued to strike around the Gulf.
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain reported missile attacks early on Saturday, with five people injured and fires reported after a missile was intercepted near Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Port, one of the Gulf’s main deepwater container ports.
At least five people were killed and seven injured after a U.S.-Israeli attack on a residential unit in Iran’s northwestern city of Zanjan, Iranian media reported early on Saturday. The Iran University of Science and Technology in Tehran was also struck, media reported.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Brad Brooks and Lincoln Feast; Editing by William Mallard and Edwina Gibbs)
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