Pro-Palestine activists spray red paint on military plane at UK airbase
NewsFeed Pro-Palestine activists spray red paint on military plane at UK airbase
Pro-Palestine activists breached security at a UK airbase and vandalised a military plane, spraying red paint into its engine. The group Palestine Action says the UK is complicit in Israel's war on Gaza.
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Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Yemen's Houthis mull how they can help ally Iran against Israel
Houthis agreed deal with US last month, but may resume attacks if US strikes Iran. As the war between Israel and Iran continues, Yemen's Houthi rebels say they are coordinating with Tehran. The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, have since 2023 launched attacks on Israel and shipping in the Red Sea in what they say is support for Palestinians in Gaza. The Houthis are also a close ally of Iran, and now they say that their latest attacks are on behalf of the 'Palestinian and Iranian peoples', according to the Telegram account of Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree, who added that the Yemeni group were coordinating with 'the operations carried out by the Iranian army against the criminal Israeli enemy'. On Sunday, two days after Israel first attacked Iran in the early hours of June 13, the Houthis announced that they had targeted Israel. In a televised address, Saree said the group fired several ballistic missiles at Jaffa. The Houthis are timing their attacks with the Iranians, according to Hussain Albukhaiti, a pro-Houthi political commentator. The Houthis are launching missiles 'after Iran launched its missiles', Albukhaiti told Al Jazeera. 'This way the Zionist settlers [Israelis] keep going back and forth to their shelters so they can live a small fraction of the fear they caused the Palestinian people in Gaza.' The Houthi attacks are essentially a continuation of their previous periodic missile and drone attacks on Israel. The Israelis have mostly been able to intercept the attacks but some have gotten through, most notably an attack in early May on Ben Gurion airport that injured six people and led to a suspension of flights. Advertisement But the Houthi attacks have also had another consequence for Israeli defences, according to Yemen expert Nicholas Brumfield. 'The constant threat of Houthi attacks coming from the south requires Israel to spread out its air defences rather than positioning them all to more effectively [defend] counterattacks coming from Iran,' he told Al Jazeera. Sign up for Al Jazeera Breaking News Alert Get real-time breaking news alerts and stay up-to-date with the most important headlines from around the globe. Subscribe Your subscription failed. Please try again. Please check your email to confirm your subscription By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy protected by reCAPTCHA Shipping routes In November 2023, the Houthis began attacking ships they say were linked to Israel in the Red Sea. International ships that travel to the Red Sea are forced to pass Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. The attacks have ceased in recent months, particularly after the Houthis and the United States came to an agreement to stop attacking each other in early May, following a US bombing campaign that is reported to have killed more than 200 people in Yemen. But the attacks could still resume, and the Houthis never agreed to stop targeting Israel, which itself has also continued to bomb Yemen. 'We had an agreement with the US to stop attacking each other, but Yemen will not obey this agreement if the US joins the Zionists in their attacks against Iran,' Albukhaiti said. 'We remember that Trump cancelled the nuclear deal between Iran and the US,' he said, referring to the US president's unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal between Iran and several Western countries in 2018. Albukhaiti accused Trump of cancelling the deal because it was not in Israel's interest. 'Yemen will do the same, and will cancel the agreement with the US, because it's not in the interest of Iran, which is an important ally of Yemen,' he said, referring to the Houthi rebel group as 'Yemen', although the group's government is not recognised internationally. Iran has also threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between it and Oman. About 20 million barrels per day (BPD), or the equivalent of about 20 percent of global petroleum liquids consumed, pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Analysts said the Houthis could potentially do the same in the Red Sea. Sea mines are 'very low-tech, easy-to-make mines that would nevertheless introduce considerable uncertainty for global shippers,' Brumfield said. 'I don't think that Iran or Yemen will hesitate to use sea mines if necessary to block the entire shipping lines in our region,' Albukhaiti added. Risks to Gulf states There are also fears that the conflict could drag in other countries in the region. The US has bases in a number of countries in the Middle East, and the Houthis have previously been involved in fighting with many of them, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Advertisement If the current conflict spirals, Gulf countries may find themselves threatened by Houthi attacks. 'The Houthis are trying to recover from the US strikes we saw between mid-March and May, and probably aren't begging to restart those more intensive strikes if they don't have to,' Brumfield said. 'But I also think they'd be amenable to restarting them if they saw themselves as participating in a grand regional war between the US-Israel and the Axis of Resistance, especially if a lot of US military resources are diverted to Iran.' Albukhaiti said Houthi forces 'could also target US bases in the region', specifically those involved in the coalition against Yemen, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, because 'we are still at war with these countries', he said. The Saudi-led coalition intervened militarily in the war in Yemen between the Houthis and the country's internationally recognised government in 2015, unleashing a years-long campaign of air strikes. Saudi Arabia ceased hostilities in Yemen in 2022, but has yet to officially reach a deal with the Houthis. And before that, it had come under Houthi attack. In 2019, Saudi oil production was cut by around 50 percent after Houthi drone strikes on oil plants. Since then, analysts say the Saudis have worked hard to keep more stable relations with the Houthis in order to avoid further attacks. But despite these efforts, the detente could be forgotten if the Houthis see fit to resume hitting their northern neighbour. 'I don't think [attacks on Saudi Arabia are] off the table,' Brumfield said. 'If elements in Houthi leadership in favour of a military-first approach win out, it's plausible they would attack the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] as part of a general escalation in both the regional and Yemen conflict.' Brumfield added that the Houthis would, however, have to also keep in mind that Saudi Arabia has provided 'diplomatic cover' for the Houthis in the past few years, as it seeks to find a final deal to end the conflict in Yemen. Any attacks from the Houthis would likely make Saudi Arabia abandon that strategy. Internal strife Anti-Houthi groups in Yemen have been watching events carefully over the past few months, as they sense an opportunity with the initial US campaign against the Houthis, and now the weakening of the Houthis' principal ally, Iran. 'The most [the Houthis are] capable of doing is continuing symbolic attacks on Israel or potentially restarting activity in the Red Sea,' Raiman Al-Hamdani, an independent Yemen analyst, told Al Jazeera. 'But doing so could provoke a renewed military response from the US, Israel, and the UK, which might weaken their position domestically and open space for anti-Houthi groups to exploit any resulting instability.' However, analysts say that few of the groups that oppose the Houthis, including the Yemeni government, are in a position to take and effectively govern territory from the Houthis. And, should those groups mobilise, the Houthis would likely respond, Albukhaiti said. Advertisement Houthi forces could target any domestic opponents through 'oil and gas fields and platforms' as well as the 'airports and water distillation plants' of the countries he said backed the groups, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Iranian missile strikes building in Israel's Haifa
NewsFeed Iranian missile strikes building in Israel's Haifa This is the moment an Iranian missile struck a building in Israel's Haifa, seriously injuring several people. Iran reportedly fired around 20 missiles at Israel on Friday, explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Has Trump put off joining the Israel-Iran conflict for two weeks?
Trump appeared to delay US action on Iran for two weeks on Thursday, but is it just a negotiation tactic? United States President Donald Trump will decide Washington's course of action in relation to the Israel-Iran conflict in two weeks' time, the White House said on Thursday. Speculation has been rising this week that the US could decide to assist its longstanding ally, Israel, in strikes against Iran, which it claims are designed to neutralise Iran's nuclear programme. In particular, Israel wants the US to provide 'bunker buster' bombs, which may be able to penetrate deep within the mountain in northwest Iran, where the Fordow nuclear facility is located. This comes after a week of Trump shifting his position on the conflict. Here is what we know: What has Trump said about potential US action in Iran? On Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared what she described as a direct quote from the US president with reporters: 'Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.' How has Trump changed his position on the Iran-Israel conflict? When Israel first attacked Iran late on June 13, the Trump administration clearly stated that it had not been involved, calling Israel's attack 'unilateral action'. It has become clear since then, however, that the US did have knowledge of the attacks in advance. Trump also said he believed Iran was 'very close' to having a nuclear weapon during the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada this week, contradicting his own US intelligence reports. This marked a shift from his position in May, when he made public statements that Tehran and Washington were close to a nuclear deal. Advertisement On Wednesday, Trump refused to say whether the US would join the conflict. 'I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do,' he told reporters outside the White House. Finally, on Thursday, Trump appeared to give a two-week deadline for talks with Iran to succeed before the US would take action. Sign up for Al Jazeera Americas Coverage Newsletter US politics, Canada's multiculturalism, South America's geopolitical rise—we bring you the stories that matter. Subscribe Your subscription failed. Please try again. Please check your email to confirm your subscription By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy protected by reCAPTCHA Does this mean Trump has delayed a US attack on Iran for two weeks? No. It also does not necessarily mean the US will attack Iran at all. Leavitt remained ambiguous on what could happen after two weeks. The press secretary said: 'The president is always interested in a diplomatic solution … he is a peacemaker-in-chief. He is the peace-through-strength president. And so, if there's a chance for diplomacy, the president's always going to grab it. But he's not afraid to use strength as well.' But Mona Yacoubian, senior adviser and director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said that while two weeks would give time for more negotiations with Iran, it would also provide the US with time to 'flow in additional forces should it decide to join Israel in the conflict'. For now, it is impossible to say which of these two possibilities is more likely – or if the 'two weeks' mentioned by Trump is even a deadline at all. 'I don't even know if President Trump knows what he wants,' Iranian American analyst Negar Mortazavi told Al Jazeera. 'He campaigned as the president of peace … he promised he's going to end conflicts. Russia-Ukraine hasn't ended. Gaza has escalated, and he just let the third big Middle East war, which looks like a regime-change war, start under his watch. So, he says one thing. He does another.' Others believe Trump's 'two weeks' comment is a negotiation tactic to apply pressure on Iran during talks. Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council, told Al Jazeera that Trump could be attempting to build leverage with threats to strong-arm Iran into accepting his demands of 'total surrender'. 'I think he's trying to present himself as this madman who is unpredictable, and in so doing, he can then insist on this very hard line that Iran has refused to accept for decades of full dismantlement of its [nuclear] enrichment programme,' Abdi told Al Jazeera. 'The delay certainly could be part of a broader negotiating strategy which exploits Iran's weakened position as a result of wide-ranging military strikes to extract more substantial concessions from Iran on the nuclear issue and potentially on other points of contention as well, for example its ballistic missiles programme,' Yacoubian said. Advertisement 'It's extremely difficult to predict what will happen next,' she added. 'President Trump's idiosyncratic negotiating strategy alongside his instinctual, 'from-the-gut' decision-making approach underscores the unpredictability of the coming days – which may well be the point!' Has Trump declared deadlines before, and has he stuck to them? In the past, Trump has assigned similar timelines relating to Iran's nuclear programme, the Russia-Ukraine war and global trade tariffs. But he does not always stick to them. 'Imposing deadlines stands as perhaps the one predictable element of Trump's approach to finding solutions to complex problems,' said Yacoubian. 'Setting explicit deadlines has characterised Trump's negotiating style in several realms, from Ukraine to politically sensitive domestic challenges.' Iran-Israel conflict In the lead-up to the current conflict, Trump says he gave Iran a 60-day deadline to negotiate an agreement over its nuclear programme, but talks continued beyond its expiry, Yacoubian noted. In the end, it was Israel which took action, launching a series of strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites on June 13. Russia-Ukraine war Since the beginning of his presidency in January this year, Trump has been attempting to lead peace negotiations to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. On May 28, Trump set a two-week deadline to determine whether his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was willing to end the conflict. Trump told reporters then: 'Within two weeks. We're gonna find out whether or not [Putin is] tapping us along or not. And if he is, we'll respond a little bit differently.' As the two-week window approached an end, the New York Post asked Trump in a podcast whether Putin cared about Russia losing thousands of soldiers in Ukraine. He said, 'I'm starting to think maybe he doesn't.' Since the two-week window ended, Russia and Ukraine do not appear to be any closer to a peace agreement. But Trump has not signalled a shift in US policy towards Russia despite his previous threat. A report by the Reuters news agency, published on Tuesday, further claimed that the Trump administration had disbanded an interagency working group aimed at placing pressure on Russia to speed up talks with Ukraine. Reuters cited three unnamed US officials in its report. The existence of this working group had not been made public. Trade tariffs Trump has also announced pauses and delays to his on-again-off-again trade tariffs first imposed on trading partners of the US in April. In April, he announced a 90-day pause for all its tariff targets except China, with which the US reached a trade deal earlier this month. The tariff pause is set to expire on July 8. However, on June 11, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told lawmakers that Trump was likely to push back the July 8 deadline.
