AGENCIES

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis launched missiles at Israel yesterday, their first such attack since the start of the Iran war, heightening the risk that a conflict now in its second month could expand further across the region.

Speaking before the strike, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States expected to conclude military operations within weeks. The Houthis said they would continue their operations until the “aggression” on all fronts ended.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke with Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, whose government is hosting a meeting with the Turkish and Saudi foreign ministers today to seek to ease regional tensions.

But there is no sign of an immediate diplomatic breakthrough, and the war, launched with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands and hitting the world economy with the biggest-ever disruption to global energy supplies.

The intervention of Iran’s Yemeni allies into the conflict will spark concern about disruption to Red Sea shipping, with trade from the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz already choked off.

The Red Sea has become increasingly important during the new war. Saudi Arabia has diverted a large proportion of its oil exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, to avoid Hormuz.

Iran’s military yesterday said that it had targeted a US logistics vessel near the Omani port of Salalah on the Arabian Sea. Danish shipping giant Maersk said operations had been temporarily suspended after a drone attack injured one worker and damaged a crane.

Yesterday, Israel said it had carried out a wave of attacks on Tehran, targeting what the military said were infrastructure sites belonging to Iran’s government.

It also hit targets in Lebanon, where it has resumed its war against Iran-backed Hezbollah, killing three Lebanese journalists in a strike on a media vehicle, Lebanon’s Al Manar TV reported, as well as a Lebanese soldier.

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