Yemen's Houthis reported fresh Saudi airstrikes on Wednesday, as Riyadh accused the group of launching a "cowardly" attack targeting Islam's holy city of Mecca. The Houthis swiftly rejected as a "lie" Riyadh's early morning statement that it had shot down a drone heading towards Mecca, but the accusation prompted a chorus of outrage from around the Muslim world. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
US extends visa sanctions on Palestinian Authority officials, PLO members
The US State Department said on Wednesday it would extend sanctions denying visas to Palestinian Authority officials and members of the Palestine Liberation Organization ahead of the upcoming UN General Assembly.
Trump to hold talks on Iran with Gulf leaders next week, Axios reports
US President Donald Trump is expected to meet Gulf leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday to discuss the next steps in the Iran war, Axios reported late on Wednesday, citing sources.
The meeting is expected to focus on US ideas for a postwar strategy, Axios reported.
US officials met Iran-backed Houthis in Oman over the weekend
US officials met representatives of Yemen's Houthis in Oman over the weekend, five sources familiar
with the matter said, days after the Iran-backed militia seized a strategic stretch of the Red Sea coast in a sweeping offensive that routed Saudi-backed forces.
The meeting, which has not been made public, was held at the US Embassy in Muscat, three of the sources said on the condition of anonymity. Two sources said that Oman's government, a longtime regional mediator, helped organise the meeting.
The Trump administration designated the Houthis a "foreign terrorist organisation" in March 2025, criminalising support for the group. But Washington has negotiated with them since, reaching a ceasefire in May last year after bombing the group for two months to halt a campaign of attacks on Red Sea shipping.
Amnesty says Iran committed 'crimes against humanity' in protests crackdown
Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity in the crackdown on 2022 protests that left hundreds dead, Amnesty International said, adding Tehran's suppression of new demonstrations this year bore the "same hallmarks" but on an even wider scale.
FRANCE 24's Mark Owen speaks with Amnesty International Iran Researcher Raha Bahreini.
She calls for the establishment of an international criminal justice mechanism to prosecute those responsible for the crimes.
Israel, Morocco agree to mutually open embassies
Israel and Morocco have agreed to open embassies in their respective countries following a meeting between their top diplomats and the US ambassador to the United Nations in New York, the Israeli foreign ministry said.
At the meeting, the countries reaffirmed their commitment to a series of measures including "upgrading diplomatic relations between the two countries, elevating their respective diplomatic missions to the level of embassies, and the appointment of ambassadors", a foreign ministry statement said.
Saudis seek allies' help as missile defenses run low in fight with Houthis, officials say
Saudi Arabia is running low on missile interceptors and has turned to regional and Western allies for assistance as its standoff with Houthi rebels in Yemen drags on, two regional officials said.
The officials said the Saudis have asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air-defense support to the region to help defend against missiles and drones fired by Houthis and other Iran-backed groups.
The outreach was initiated because Saudi Arabia's main ally and arms supplier, the US, has seen its own stock of interceptors dwindle over the course of a six-month war with Iran, one official said.
Saudi Arabia accuses Houthis of targeting Mecca, warns of 'red line'
Saudi Arabia accused Yemen's Houthis of launching a "cowardly" attack targeting Islam's holy city of Mecca, sparking outrage across the Muslim world.
The Houthis swiftly rejected as a "lie" Riyadh's statement that it had shot down a drone heading towards Mecca, which attracts millions of pilgrims each year.
FRANCE 24's Emerald Maxwell reports.
Houthis say Saudi Arabia launched 40 airstrikes in Yemen over 24 hours
The Houthis said that Saudi Arabian jets had carried out 40 airstrikes over the past day targeting western Yemen, where the Iran-backed group recently made substantial gains along the Red Sea coast.
"Saudi warplanes launched 40 airstrikes using F15 aircraft that took off from Khamis Mushait Airbase, targeting the provinces of Taiz, Marib, and Hodeidah over the past 24 hours," the Houthi's military spokesman said Yahya Saree said in a statement on social media.
US Treasury gathers global financial institutions to advance Iran sanctions
The US Treasury said its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network had convened a meeting of global financial institutions to advance Operation Economic Outcast, its recent push to isolate Tehran and limit its ability to fund the war in the Middle East.
"The event armed financial institutions with the information they need to shut down revenue streams and procurement networks tied to the Iranian regime," Treasury said in a statement.
Trump administration plans to send powerful bombs to Israel in $2.8 billion weapons sale
The Trump administration is planning to deliver powerful 2,000-pound bombs to Israel as part of an upcoming arms deal, weapons that prompted such concerns about the possibility of mass casualties in Gaza that the Biden administration paused their delivery two years ago.
FRANCE 24's Philip Turle tells us more.
More than 100,000 flee fighting in Yemen
Flaring fighting between government forces and Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen has displaced more than 100,000 people inside the country, while thousands more have fled abroad, the UN said Tuesday.
Two pumping stations along Saudi East-West Pipeline damaged in recent attack
Two pumping stations serving the vital East-West Pipeline in Saudi Arabia were damaged in an attack last week, with a repair timeline unclear, according to assessments from three oil and security sources.
Saudi Aramco, which operates the 1,200 km (745-mile) pipeline running across the Arabian Peninsula, did not respond to a request for comment. Saudi Arabia's government media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The pipeline, which has helped relieve the logjam in the Strait of Hormuz, temporarily shut down on Friday after a drone attack coming from Iraq, Saudi officials have said.
Emergency doctor on the challenges of caring for civilians in conflict zones
For humanitarian doctors and healthcare workers operating in active conflict zones, the challenges are seemingly endless: from so-called "double tap" strikes that put emergency workers at risk, to roadblocks, evacuation orders and even the positioning of humanitarian organisations in the political debate.
Pierre Catoire, emergency doctor and vice-president of Mehad — A French NGO dedicated to healthcare in conflict zones — speaks to FRANCE 24 about how medical professionals go about their work in such conditions.
US Energy Secretary says 18 million barrels of oil flowed through Gulf
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said 18 million barrels of oil flowed through the Gulf on Tuesday.
"We've risen the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf to record highs right now. About 18 million barrels flowed out yesterday, basically pre-conflict levels," Wright said in an interview Wednesday with Fox News.
Flydubai expects return to full capacity by end of year, CEO says
Dubai airline flydubai expects to return to full capacity by the end of the year, its CEO said, as carriers across the region recover from the impact of the Iran war.
By year-end, "we should go back to 100 percent, and even a little bit more because we will be getting more aircraft," CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith said, speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market event in Dubai.
The Iran war, which began at the end of February, disrupted flights in the Middle East and beyond for weeks, but Gulf carriers, some of the world's biggest, have gradually resumed activity.
China's top diplomat urges Iran, US to show restraint, revive talks
China encourages Iran and the US to remain rational, exercise restraint, return to the interim peace deal they signed in June and "engage in substantive consultations", Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Iranian counterpart in Beijing.
"We urge all parties to take effective measures to reopen the Strait of Hormuz at an early date" to safeguard the stability of international energy transport and supply chains Wang said, according to China's foreign ministry, adding that China "does not want to see regional tensions to spill over further into Yemen and the Red Sea".
Tehran and Washington should "rebuild the negotiation mechanism based on the consensus reached so far", Wang told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who is on a one-day visit to Beijing.
"Iran, while fully prepared to powerfully defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity and safeguard its security ... against aggressors, welcomes diplomatic solutions that ensure the rights of the Iranian nation," Araqchi said, according to Iranian state media.
Saudi Arabia condemns 'cowardly terrorist attack' by Houthis on Mecca
Saudi Arabia condemned the targeting of Mecca as a "cowardly terrorist attack" after Yemen's Houthis denied launching a drone at the holy city.
The Gulf kingdom "reaffirms its legitimate right to take all necessary measures to defend the security of the two holy mosques, the pilgrims, and the entire Saudi territory, its citizens, and its residents," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
US House votes for a third time to end the Iran war as conflict drags on
For a third time, the US House has voted to end the war in Iran, approving a war powers resolution that would halt US President Donald Trump’s ability to continue military action without congressional approval.
The roll call was similar to earlier efforts this summer.
None of the resolutions have made it to the president’s desk, where Trump would almost certainly veto the measure.
Sweden expels Iran embassy employee, summons ambassador
Sweden said it had expelled an Iranian embassy employee and summoned the country's ambassador, accusing Tehran of making threats against Jewish and Israeli interests in Sweden.
"We know that Iran, over a long period of time, has conducted activities that threaten security in and against Sweden, targeting both individuals who oppose the Iranian regime and various Jewish and Israeli interests in our country. This has, among other things, been done by making use of criminal networks," Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said in a statement to AFP.
Saudi Arabia vowed to respond "firmly" to attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels after the Iran-backed fighters wounded 13 people in the kingdom’s south following a series of drone and missile attacks.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met in Cairo for talks on security freedom and security of navigation in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea.
The US Defense Department's inspector general revealed that the United States is facing a shortfall in ammunition as a result of its costly war in Iran, which has cost the US $38 billion so far.
