Saudi forces have responded to a drone and cruise missile attack on the Kingdom from Yemen, state-run media reported Monday. Meanwhile, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels said airstrikes on two districts in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa and in the country's north killed 10 people and wounded 19 others.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Monday. Read our full coverage here.
Saudi forces respond to attacks from Yemen
Saudi state-run media say their forces have responded to attacks on the Kingdom, but didn't give further details.
The report came after the country’s Houthi-run Health Ministry and the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency said airstrikes on Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and in the northern province of al-Jawf killed 10 people and wounded 19 others.
Health Ministry spokesman Anees al-Asbahi said a strike on a salt factory in Sanaa's Hamadan district killed a man and wounded eight people. A separate strike on a house wounded a woman and three children, he said.
The strike in al-Jawf targeted a government complex and a house, killing nine people including five children and a woman while wounding seven others, according to SABA. No details were provided about when the strikes occurred.
The rebels' media center blamed Saudi Arabia for the strikes on Sanaa, which came as the Houthis continued to fire missiles and drones toward the kingdom's airports.
Closure of Saudi capital's airport extended
Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation didn't say Monday when King Khalid Airport in the capital of Riyadh will resume operations.
Houthi rebels have attacked the airport multiple times in recent days, killing at least 14 people and wounding at least 320 others.
Saudi Arabia launches probe into air defense failure
Saudi authorities opened an investigation into an air defense failure to respond to Houthi missiles that hit the King Khalid Airport, one of the most secure areas in the kingdom.
Two regional officials said on Monday an initial probe showed that the Houthis first fired multiple drones to pave the way for a mix of cruise and ballistic missiles to reach the airport. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to speak to the media.
Some of the missiles can maneuver and escape the interceptors fired by the Patriot battery, they said.
One of the officials said the probe also seeks to answer why there wasn't early warning of the attack since the Houthi missiles and drones traveled over 1,000 kilometers to reach Riyadh.
__ By Samy Magdy in Cairo
Iran says ready to mediate end of war between Houthis and Saudi Arabia
Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Monday repeated the country's readiness to help settle the conflict between Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia through diplomatic means.
Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Iran was deeply concerned about the situation and announced readiness to mediate talks between the two sides “many times.”
Baghaei said the war only serves Israeli interests and that Iran doesn't accept the continuation of conflict between two Islamic nations.
He said Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, and his Saudi counterpart discussed developments on a phone call Sunday.
2 Indian sailors missing after drone hits tanker
India's Foreign Ministry said Monday two Indian seafarers are missing after a drone struck the MT Petro Dolphin in the Strait of Hormuz area. The commercial tanker had 11 Indian sailors on board when it was hit Sunday, the ministry said.
A second vessel, the Marshall Islands-flagged MT Valthera, was struck by an unknown projectile, sparking a fire on board, but all 11 Indian sailors on the tanker were safe, the ministry said.
Gaza holds funerals for 5 people killed in Israeli strikes
Mourners cried and held funerals on Monday for five people killed in two separate Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip.
The first attack on Sunday evening killed three people, according to Nasser Hospital officials, at a spot where people gather to charge phones and other batteries in the Musawi area of Khan Younis.
A second attack early Monday in Rafah killed two others near the territory’s biggest bream fisheries.
The Israeli military said it targeted several Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants in the first strike and several Hamas militants in the second.
These are the latest deadly attacks since a ceasefire took effect more than a year ago. Nearly 1,500 people have died since then, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Iran hangs man it says was part of a militant group
Iran on Monday hanged a man convicted on charges of belonging to the Jaish al-Adl militant group and helping support attacks on security forces, official Mizan news agency reported.
Mizan, affiliated with Iran's judiciary, identified the man as Omar Dorostaran, saying he provided logistical support to armed teams, including arranging safe houses, moving members and supplying weapons and ammunition.
The judiciary accused Dorostaran of supporting attacks on police and Revolutionary Guard facilities in Rask, as well as attacks on military sites in the southeastern port city of Chabahar in April 2024.
Jaish al-Adl, or the Army of Justice, is a Sunni militant group that emerged in 2012 and has repeatedly targeted Iranian security forces in southeastern Iran.
Former US top diplomat says ‘Iranian regime’ must be ‘crushed’
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday Iran-backed Houthi rebels’ deadly strikes on Saudi Arabia were a troubling development that underscored the U.S. has not yet achieved its objectives in the war against Iran.
Speaking at a conference in Abu Dhabi focused on the Middle East’s postwar future, Pompeo said, "we collectively have not yet achieved deterrence.”
Pompeo, who served as secretary of State and CIA director during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term, said: "You have to crush the Iranian regime, period, full stop. There’s no solution short of that.”
EU will step up support
for Lebanese army
The European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Monday a new support mission to Lebanon will help train the country's army and security forces "to strengthen territorial control, border security, and internal security.”
She told a meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg the new mission would strengthen EU support of Lebanese efforts to restore the government’s full sovereignty and build stability. She described the mission as “a major update of our security ties.”
The mission follows long-serving U.N. peacekeepers leaving at the end of the year. It's focused on training, not securing the border or ensuring peace, said International Crisis Group researcher Dylan Macciarini Crosson.
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
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