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Yemen

January 13, 2026

Sanaa 9:28 am

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Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 9, 2026.

From Iraq to Yemen, how Iran proxies are responding to protests

Iraqi militias and the Houthis are growing more vocal in their defense of Iran amid the protests sweeping the country, while Hezbollah and Palestinian groups are remaining relatively quiet.

A convoy of armored vehicles makes its way along a street in the port city Mukalla, southern Yemen, on Jan. 1, 2026.

Analysis

US response muted as Gulf allies clash in Yemen

With Washington’s focus elsewhere, a Saudi-Emirati proxy fight is igniting a new phase in Yemen’s war.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

SALEH AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images

Meet Aidarus Zubaidi: Separatist leader at heart of Yemen’s power struggle

Zubaidi’s Southern Transitional Council has experienced massive losses at the hands of the Yemeni government as Saudi Arabia ups its military campaign against the UAE-backed group.

Fighters loyal to Yemen's Southern Transitional Council separatists stand in the back of a pickup struck, bearing the portrait of STC Chief Aidarus al-Zubaidi

Yemen separatists accuse Saudi Arabia of 'betrayal' as pro-Riyadh forces advance

Southern Transitional Council head Aidarus al-Zubaidi did not board a scheduled flight to Saudi Arabia for talks as Riyadh intensified its airstrikes against the group.

Latest News

Analysis

From Red Sea to Horn of Africa: How Yemen exposed the Saudi-UAE divide

HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates, in Riyadh, on Sept. 3, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Yemen’s STC announces self-determination process for south: What to know

Yemeni members of the Sabahiha tribes of Lahj, who live along the strip between the south and north of the country and who support the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), hold an image of the STC leader Aidaros Alzubidi.

Jennifer Gnana

Gulf Correspondent

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

US President Donald Trump shows an executive order withdrawing his country from a number of United Nations bodies in the Oval Office of the White House on February 4, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order withdrawing his country from a number of United Nations bodies, including its Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and setting up a broader review of US funding for the multilateral organization. The executive order said it withdrew Washington from UNHRC and the main UN relief agency

US formally rebrands Yemen's Houthis as foreign terrorist organization

Critics say the Houthis' blacklisting will hamper aid delivery in the war-torn country.

INTERNATIONAL WATERS RED SEA, YEMEN - NOVEMBER 20: This handout screen grab captured from a video shows Yemen's Houthi fighters' takeover of the Galaxy Leader Cargo in the Red Sea coast off Hudaydah, on November 20, 2023 in the Red Sea, Yemen. On Monday, the Houthi movement in Yemen released footage and photos of the Houthi-run coastguard taking over the Israeli-linked Galaxy Leader Vessel in the Red Sea, which had 52 people onboard. Galaxy Leader is owned by Galaxy Maritime Ltd in the Isle of Man and is li

Analysis

How will Trump's terrorist designation of Houthis impact Red Sea attacks?

Oil trade via the Houthi-controlled Bab el-Mandeb strait decreased by 50% after the Yemeni rebels launched maritime attacks, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Trump moves to list Yemen's Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization

Armed Yemeni tribesmen join Houthi fighters riding military vehicles during an anti-US and Israel rally on the outskirts of the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on Jan. 16, 2025.

Senate Republicans sponsor bill to redesignate Yemen's Houthis as terror outfit

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair says a stronger stance on Yemen's Houthi rebels will be part of Trump's renewed maximum pressure campaign against Iran.

Thick smoke billows from a raging fire at oil storage tanks a day after Israeli strikes on the port of Yemen's Huthi-held city of Hodeida on July 21, 2024. Yemen's Huthi rebels on July 21 promised a "huge" retaliation against Israel following a deadly strike on the port of Hodeida, as regional fallout widens from months of war in Gaza. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How Israel’s Yemen strikes could be prelude to target Iran nuclear sites

Israel is debating whether to seize the detected window of opportunity and target not only the Houthis in Yemen but also Iran’s entire nuclear program.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Men carry a mock missile during a rally by university students and faculty denouncing strikes on Yemen and in solidarity with Palestinians.

Israel launches new airstrikes in Yemen, hits Sanaa airport for first time

Israel conducted massive airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, including on Sanaa's international airport and the seaport of Hodeidah.

A banner depicting Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stands next to a ballistic missile in Baharestan Square, Tehran, Sept. 26, 2024.

Analysis

Were Israel's Yemen strikes trial run for major attack on Iran?

Some analysts consider the large-scale attack on Yemeni sites a test run for a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, but others now view destabilizing the mullahs as the best approach.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Yemeni firefighters douse oil tanks with water at a power station hit in an Israeli airstrike in the Houthi-run capital, Sanaa, Dec. 19, 2024.

Israel strikes Yemen ports, power stations in retaliation against Houthis

Dozens of Israeli fighter jets struck three ports and two power plants in Sanaa, the capital.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 20: President Donald Trump (R) holds up a chart of military hardware sales as he meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Oval Office at the White House on March 20, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

Analysis

Saudi Arabia to pursue two-track approach for Trump presidency

Riyadh is likely to compartmentalize business dealings with incoming President Donald Trump separately from its foreign policy engagements, where there is likely to be disagreement.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

NUSA DUA, INDONESIA - JULY 08: The Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi (R) greets the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luigi Di Maio (L) during arrival of the G20 Foreign Ministers and Head of Department at the Grand Ballroom Mulia Hotel on July 08, 2022 in Nusa Dua, Indonesia. (Photo by Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images)

Interview

EU escorted over 200 ships in Red Sea amid Gulf maritime threats, envoy says

The Gulf states are supporting the EU's Operation Aspides to counter the Houthi threat in the Red Sea region, as both seek greater cooperation on maritime security, said Luigi di Maio.

Luigi di Maio

Luigi di Maio

EU Special Representative for the Gulf

This aerial photo taken on June 22, 2021, shows cargo containers stacked at Yantian port in Shenzhen in China's southern Guangdong province.

Analysis

How Trump could squeeze shipping firms impacted by Red Sea crisis

Xeneta, an ocean freight intelligence platform, warned Nov. 6 that shipping container rates grew by 70% during the last Trump administration.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

US President Donald Trump arrives at a Make America Great rally in Mesa, Arizona, Oct. 19, 2018.

How pro-Iran armed groups reacted to Trump's victory

Representatives from Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis doubt that the US president-elect will fulfill his campaign promise to end the ongoing wars in the region.