The Houthis Have Opened a New Front in the U.S.-Iran War

On 24 July 2026, the US military said it completed its 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iran, with explosions heard in Bandar Abbas and on Qeshm island. Iran said four people were killed in overnight US strikes in the south, near Ahvaz. The Houthis fired on Saudi oil sites on the Red Sea, which the Wall Street Journal called a new front in the war, and the US said it struck Iran again to 'diminish threat to mariners, vessels' after attacks on Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.

Trump threatened a 'massive attack' on Iran and met with his Cabinet over whether to intensify strikes. Iran attacked US bases in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, and the IRGC said troop quarters, aircraft and a Patriot system were destroyed in retaliatory strikes. Iran rejected reports of a new US peace deal. The House voted to stop the Iran war, and the New York Times reported that US intelligence says Iran's new leader is more open to pursuing a nuclear weapon. The war has entered its fifth month.