West Asia war LIVE: U.S. military 'disables' tanker trying to evade Iran port blockade; Houthis vow retaliation for Saudi strikes

The U.S. and Iran showed no sign of backing away from their conflict after as they continue to trade strikes.

With fighting flaring again and diplomacy uncertain, both sides made moves suggesting an escalation was possible. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia struck the port city of Hodeida in Yemen in response to Iranian-backed Houthi rebel attacks on Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said early Saturday (July 25, 2026). The Houthis said the group would escalate after tensions have been brewing for weeks, breaking a yearslong calm.

Escalation trap: On the U.S. and the war with IranEarlier on Friday (July 24, 2026), U.

S. President Donald Trump described negotiations with Iran as “by far the most serious that we’ve seen”. Trump added that he’s “not in a hurry” to end the war.

U.S. Embassies in West Asia began alerting Americans in the region that options to leave could become more limited, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guard advised residents of neighbouring countries to stay away from bases with U.

S. troops.U.

S. House of Representatives again passes resolution seeking to halt military action in IranVowing that Iran “will not bow to U.S.”

bullying, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi noted ongoing discussions with two global powers often at odds with Americans — China and Russia — and warned in an interview with the semiofficial news outlet Tasnim that the Islamic Republic is “neither intimidated by threats nor will we yield to pressure.” Follow LIVE updates here President Donald Trump has said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit ⁠the U.S.

next week. Mr. Trump’s comments came in his speech at the White ‌House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on Friday (July 24), while he was falsely ‌casting U.

S. Senator Chuck ‌Schumer ⁠as Palestinian.“I am going ⁠to send him (Schumer) a beautiful Palestinian outfit tomorrow, so he can greet Bibi Netanyahu when ‌he comes to town next week,” Mr.

Trump said.“He turned Palestinian,” Mr. Trump said of Mr.

Schumer, who is Jewish, ‌while also joking that sharia law was Mr. Schumer’s “new founding.”Reuters Iran-backed Houthi rebels vowed to retaliate against Saudi Arabia on Saturday (July 25, 2026) after they accused the kingdom of targeting civilian infrastructure, as the West Asia war widens across the region.

Riyadh struck Houthi military targets in Hodeida on Friday (July 24), with rebel media reporting two wounded after the Yemeni group announced a maritime blockade of the top oil producer and hit its ships.The flare-up marks a new front of the war that has engulfed the region following US-Israeli strikes on Tehran in February, and comes on top of Iran’s parallel blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Riyadh’s only other maritime route.“The Saudi enemy’s targeting of civilian facilities in Hodeida and Kamaran island constitutes a dangerous escalation,” the Houthis’ Ansarollah media posted on Telegram.

“We affirm that these recent crimes will not go unanswered.”AFP The U.S.

military said it had fired on and disabled a tanker ship that was attempting to evade the American blockade on Iranian ports.“We disabled the tanker after the crew attempted to run the blockade at least four times prior,” said Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, spokesman for U.S.

Central Command.“The crew was repeatedly warned, didn’t comply, and U.S.

forces on scene disabled the ship after firing into its engine room,” he said. “The ship is no longer transiting to Iran.”AFP