Iranian vessel struck on Strait of Hormuz, as Houthis expand control of oil shipping lane

Follow updates on the war in the Middle East for Monday, Sept. 14, here. See earlier developments below.

An Iranian cargo vessel was struck early Sunday off Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media said, and a plan by Tehran to brief neighboring countries on its contested efforts to manage shipping in the strait was postponed.

The attack, which the reports said killed one and wounded four, drew attention back to the strait after threats to shipping in the region intensified last week when Iran-backed Houthi rebels captured an island on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea.

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quoted the Qeshm governor as blaming a "terrorist enemy" for Sunday's attack. There was no immediate comment by the U.S. military, which has struck Iranian-flagged vessels during its blockade of Iranian ports and faces a new threat from Iranian ballistic missiles launched at its warships.

Qeshm Island, about 14 miles from the port city of Bandar Abbas, is key to Iran asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Hours before the attack, Iran's government remained defiant. "Our people can't be bullied into submission. Iran won't surrender," President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a social media post.

President Trump disagreed, saying on Sunday that Iran "wants to make a deal so bad" that "they're calling constantly." Mr. Trump spoke at his golf course in Doonbeg, Ireland, where he was attending a tournament.

Later, when asked by a reporter whether the U.S. struck the Iranian cargo vessel early Sunday in the Strait of Hormuz, Mr. Trump said: "I don't want to say." He then boarded Air Force One to head back to Washington.

The U.S. Embassy in the United Arab Emirates issued a security alert on Saturday, warning Americans in the Middle East country to exercise increased caution in areas associated with the Jewish and Israeli communities.

"The U.S. Mission to the United Arab Emirates reminds Americans of the continued need for caution at locations in the UAE associated with the Jewish and Israeli communities, including places of worship," the alert dated Friday, Sept. 11, said.

The embassy did not specify whether there were threats at any specific sites. This weekend marks the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah.

Since March, the Department of State has advised Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution following the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

President Trump, asked about Gulf states meeting with Iran in Oman on Monday to discuss the Strait of Hormuz, said he doesn't care.

"I don't care. That's up to them," Mr. Trump told reporters at his golf course in Ireland. "If they could be happy… if they're happy, that's fine."

The planned meeting comes as the Islamic Republic has blockaded the Strait of Hormuz during the war, driving up oil prices.

Mr. Trump claimed on Sunday that the war with Iran will end "right after the midterms," adding that "gasoline is going to drop like a rock." He said "Iran wants to make a deal so badly," saying they are "calling constantly."

Iran and the United Arab Emirates, whose relations have deteriorated since the start of the Middle East war, want to "turn the page", the Iranian president claimed on Sunday.

"For the first time since the war and the incidents that occurred in the Persian Gulf, we had a constructive exchange with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi," Massoud Pezeshkian said a day after a meeting with Sheikh Khaled Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in India, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. "It was agreed that we would turn the page, look to the future and build it together."

After U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran in February launched the Middle East war, Tehran retaliated against America's allies in the region, with the UAE bearing much of the brunt.

In August, the UAE announced it was suspending trade and financial exchanges with Iran.

Dubai, the UAE's largest city, is home to a deeply rooted Iranian community and is a vital economic lifeline for Iran, which is struggling under the weight of U.S. and international sanctions.

A senior government official in Yemen said its forces will return to the Red Sea coast and fight back, after the Iran-backed Houthis' swift capture of territory last week.

Sultan al-Arada, a member of the ruling presidential council, described the collapse of government forces in the port city of Mokha and elsewhere on Yemen's west coast as "painful and regrettable."

Al-Arada, also governor of central Marib province, said in the televised interview aired late Saturday that forces "are currently regrouping and will return to the battle in one form or another."

On Friday, a senior military official with Yemen's internationally recognized government blamed "lack of coordination" between Yemen's army and multiple allied militias, saying it gave the Houthis "a priceless opportunity."

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't allowed to speak to the media, also said they were stunned that the Saudi air force didn't act to prevent the capture of Mokha, about 50 miles from the strait.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they fired drones and missiles toward neighboring Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis' military spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, claimed in a statement that they targeted a military base in Sharurah province in the Najran region. He didn't provide evidence or say when the attack took place. Sirens went off in the province on Saturday, according to the Saudi civil defense, which didn't report casualties or damage.

The civil defense overnight also said a projectile fell in al-Tawwal governorate near the border with Yemen along the Red Sea, injuring two people and damaging a mosque and several other buildings. The statement blamed the Houthis.

1 person was killed and 3 were wounded when an Iranian commercial vessel was struck early Sunday near the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's state media reported.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations monitor separately reported a vessel was hit by a projectile while transiting the strait, with no details.

There was no immediate statement by the U.S. military, which previously has struck Iranian-flagged vessels as it keeps up a blockade of Iranian ports.

The BRICS group of emerging economies on Saturday expressed concern over rising tensions in the Middle East and condemned the use of sanctions not authorized by the United Nations, as the leaders met in New Delhi to strengthen their position in global affairs seen as dominated by the West.

The meeting, which included Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, voiced concern over "deliberate attacks" on civilian infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities under the U.N. atomic energy agency's safeguards, saying nuclear safety and security must be protected during armed conflicts. The statement was seen as indirect criticism of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

The leaders also took aim at unilateral sanctions not authorized by the U.N. Security Council. They did not name any countries, but Russia, one of the founding members of BRICS, has faced Western sanctions following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"We call for the elimination of such unlawful measures, which undermine international law and the principles and purposes of the U.N. Charter," the joint statement said.

Iran has also pushed for mechanisms that could reduce the bloc's reliance on Western financial systems and shield members from economic pressure, as Tehran faces sweeping sanctions and a U.S. blockade.

"One of the most important steps is to expand the use of national currencies in trade among the members," Pezeshkian told reporters on Friday.

For India, the summit also highlights its effort to maintain strategic ties with Russia and Iran while deepening relations with the U.S. and Europe. New Delhi has sought to balance its longstanding partnerships with Moscow and Tehran with efforts to expand economic, defense and technology ties with Washington and other Western nations.

India has maintained close ties with both Moscow and Tehran despite the war in Ukraine and tensions between Iran and the U.S., while calling for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve conflicts. Modi met Putin and Pezeshkian separately in New Delhi on Friday ahead of the summit.

In May, BRICS foreign ministers failed to agree on a joint statement over the Iran war, forcing India to issue a chair's summary instead.

The 11 nations in BRICS are China, Russia, India, Iran, Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

The Iranian-backed Houthi militant group in Yemen said early Sunday local time that it used drones and missiles to attack a military base in southern Saudi Arabia.

The attack at the Sharurah base targeted "weapons depots and command and control centers that are managing the aggression against our nation and people," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree wrote on X.

The date of the operation was not specified. Clashes have increased this week between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces, which are backed by Riyadh.

The ongoing clashes follow a week-long Houthi offensive that culminated in the group capturing the remainder of Yemen's Red Sea coast and several strategic islands, cementing their hold on the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the sea's southern entrance.

The waterway has become an important artery for Saudi Arabian oil exports after Iran largely cut off shipments through the Gulf with its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz at the start of the Iran war.

The Houthis have recently declared their own maritime blockade of Riyadh's Red Sea ports.

Explosions were heard Saturday off the coast of an island located in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media said.

"A few minutes ago, the sound of two explosions was heard on Qeshm Island, coming from the direction of the sea," the official IRNA news agency said.

In recent weeks, Iran has been targeting oil tankers passing through the strategic waterway as well as U.S. bases in the Gulf countries in retaliation for the attacks carried out by the U.S. military on Iranian targets.

The United States has also targeted ships trying to break its own counterblockade of Iranian ports.

Yemen's Houthis said on Saturday they had freed more than 200 of their members detained by Saudi-backed pro-government forces in areas they captured in recent days.

Houthi official Abdelkader al-Murtada said they were prisoners of war who had spent up to eight years in jail before the Iran-backed group launched a rapid offensive to take over areas bordering the Bab el-Mandab Strait.

"We have welcomed 210 of our prisoners, freed from Saudi enemy prisons on the west coast," Murtada said at a conference in the capital, Sanaa.

The Houthis had already controlled large parts of northern Yemen, including most of the country's populated areas and the major cities of Sanaa and Hodeida, before making dramatic advances last week.

Aboard the large buses taking them to the capital, the freed detainees celebrated their liberty by chanting "Death to America, death to Israel" before being welcomed by their supporters.

"I have rediscovered the taste of life. For five years I was in prison, under the yoke of aggression. For five years, I suffered every day," Mohammed Bajash told AFP.

Yemen's Riyadh-backed government forces said on Saturday they had struck Iran-allied Houthi fighters in the strategic Red Sea city of Mokha.

Following a weeklong offensive, the Houthis on Friday captured Yemen's Red Sea coast, cementing their hold on the Bab el-Mandab Strait, a vital artery for Saudi Arabian oil exports as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed amid the U.S.-Iran war.

They had seized Mokha the day before after heavy fighting.

"The armed forces destroyed vehicles and weapons and killed members of the Houthi terrorist militia backed by the Iranian regime" near Mokha's port, the government news agency Saba reported on Saturday.

The spokesman for the Yemeni government forces, Majed Abdullah al-Nazili, said they had also struck Houthi vehicles and fighters on the Mokha-Dhubab road, just outside the city, according to Saba.

"In the past 48 hours, Saudi enemy aviation has launched 129 airstrikes distributed across the provinces of Taiz, Marib, Hodeidah, Al-Jawf, Saada, Amran, and Hajjah," a Houthi spokesperson said. "These aggressions against our people will not go unanswered and unpunished."

At least 76,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since July, with the number quadrupling in the past week as fighting flared between government forces and Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the United Nations said Saturday.

"The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is warning of a rapidly worsening displacement crisis in Yemen unfolding by the hour," the U.N. agency said in a statement.

The Houthis, who have for years controlled large parts of northern Yemen, launched a large-scale offensive last week against Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces, scoring one victory after another in fighting that has left hundreds dead.

Since the Houthis announced a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia in July, "at least 76,000 people have fled their homes," IOM said.

"That's four times last week's total, as fighting intensifies," it said, warning "entire families are on the move, often at night. They have nowhere safe to go."

More than 70,000 of those displaced had fled just since the start of September, an agency spokesman told AFP.

The U.S. blockade on the Strait of Hormuz has now redirected 100 ships trying to exit or enter Iranian ports, according to the U.S. Central Command.

Central Command said on Friday the total stood at 99 and said 96 had been redirected through Thursday.

"ZERO ships have passed through the blockade without U.S. forces allowing. American service members remain laser focused on this mission," CENTCOM said on X.

The blockade was put back into place on July 14 after the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran fell apart. Iran felt the language of the MOU determined it would control flow through the Strait of Hormuz, while the U.S. said that was not the intent. Iran targeted ships traveling on the Oman coast, the U.S.-sanctioned route, and the blockade was put back in place shortly after.

The first blockade, which was in place from April 13 to June 18, redirected about 140 ships.

Iraqi leader Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi has approved an investigation, requested by Iran, into the drone platforms discovered near the countries' border, according to the prime minister's office.

The drone platforms were reportedly used to launch a strike on the East-West pipeline in Saudi Arabia, a crucial lifeline for crude oil transport across the country with the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut down by Iran.

There are several groups supported by Iran operating in neighboring Iraq, some of which were targeted in joint strikes by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia in late July. The strikes targeted the Popular Mobilisation Forces, the largest of those Iranian proxies in the region, which had conducted strikes against Gulf nations.

While the groups are often supported by Iran and serve in Iran's interests, they are also semi-autonomous. The Iraqi government, backed by the U.S., has also tried to get the proxies to disarm with limited success.

The USS George Washington, with its approximately 5,000 personnel, fighter jets and munitions, is the backbone of the U.S. military's tactical operation in the Iran war, as well as a primary target of the Tehran regime.

A CBS News crew was taken aboard the aircraft carrier this week to get an exclusive look at its latest mission, supporting the U.S. war against Iran from its position in the Arabian Sea near the critical Strait of Hormuz.

The George Washington was sent to the Middle East last month to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, which came under scrutiny for the length of its deployment, a record nine months, and concerns about conditions aboard the carrier and the mental health of its troops.

CBS News watched this week as the George Washington's service members launched nighttime missions to help maintain the U.S. blockade against Iran and provide cover for commercial vessels transiting the strait.

Bahrain said on Saturday it would not take part in a proposed meeting in Oman between Iran and Gulf states to discuss the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has blockaded throughout the war.

Pointing to attacks on infrastructure across the Gulf, the ministry said that security and stability in the region "cannot be preserved through a policy of appeasement" and called for Hormuz to be open without "discrimination, fees or permits."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian did not specify which country's foreign ministers would attend the Monday gathering when he announced it on Friday.

Bahrain has come under sustained drone and missile strikes throughout the war with Iran. It has been one of the top Iranian targets for retribution against the U.S., including targeting the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet headquarters.

"They blew the hell out of Bahrain," acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao said in an interview with The Epoch Times this week.

Iran's president and the United Arab Emirates crown prince met in New Delhi on Saturday, the Iranian embassy in India said, as the countries remain at odds over the Middle East war.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian "held a meeting and talks" with the senior UAE official on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, the embassy said, posting a photograph of the meeting with Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed on social media.