Three Pakistani nationals were among those killed when Iranian-backed Houthis attacked a ship off Yemen, the first known deaths from the rebels’ attacks on shipping in the latest bout of fighting that has raised fears of war expanding in the region. Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Three Pakistanis among the dead in Houthi attack on ship Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday condemned the attack by Houthi rebels on the ship in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, saying three Pakistanis had been killed in the attack and another wounded. A total of six people were killed in the attack on Tuesday. “Such attacks endanger innocent lives, constitute a violation of international law, and pose a serious threat to freedom of navigation, maritime security, and the safety of commercial shipping in the Red Sea,” Dar said in a post on X. With the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut down by Iran and a U.S. blockade on Iranian ports, there has been a renewed focus on the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb strait at Yemen’s southern tip, which is an alternate route for Saudi Arabia to ship its oil. The attack came as part of a growing number of Houthi strikes against government forces in Yemen and oil facilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni government, and the kingdom’s shipping in the Red Sea. Fears are growing that the renewed violence could reignite Yemen’s civil war following a 2022 truce, and open a new front in the Middle East war. Trump insists blockade gives U.S. control of Strait of Hormuz Claiming the U.S. has “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump said Wednesday: “I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!” Trump’s social media post referred to the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports. A vital route for one-fifth of the world’s traded oil before the war, the strait has been largely closed to other traffic since the start of the war because of Iran’s attacks on shipping. Those attacks have continued despite the blockade and U.S. strikes. Iran has said the strait will only reopen if the U.S. meets a list of demands, including lifting the blockade, ending sanctions and compensating Iran for damage inflicted by the war, which began with a surprise U.S. and Israeli attack on Feb. 28. Pakistan presses to defuse tensions between U.S. and Iran Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met Iranian Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam in Islamabad on Wednesday as Pakistan seeks to resume peace negotiations between Iran and the U.S. Their meeting came a day after Pakistan sent Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to Tehran for talks with Iran’s top leaders. An interim deal to end the fighting reached in mid-June is set to expire Monday. The ceasefire collapsed last month as the U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes over more than two weeks before pausing. Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters Wednesday the June deal remains valid and the deadline could be extended. “We are not closing the chapter,” Andrabi said. Turkiye condemns Colombia’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights Turkiye condemned the decision by Colombia’s new government to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, calling it a move to “legitimize Israel’s occupation” of the territory. Colombia, shortly after the swearing-in of conservative Abelardo de la Espriella as president on Friday, became just the second country to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the territory, which Israel captured during the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed in 1981. The United States was the first during Trump’s first term, reversing more than a half-century of U.S. policy. The United Nations recognizes the territory as part of Syria. Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Colombia’s move constitutes “a grave violation of international law.” Israeli troops accused of destroying a Lebanese school building Israeli forces occupying the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah in southern Lebanon blew up a four-storey public school building on Wednesday as well as a municipal building and a children’s nursery, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported. The village’s municipal council called the destruction a “heinous crime.” There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Zawtar al-Sharqiyah is adjacent to a newly implemented “pilot zone” from which Israeli forces are supposed to gradually withdraw and hand control to the Lebanese army in exchange for disarmament of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Lebanese officials have objected to the Israeli military’s ongoing detonation of homes and other buildings in southern Lebanon amid negotiations to expand the pilot zones. The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets across the border, two days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. Kuwaiti authorities thwart plot against unnamed facility Kuwait’s Interior Ministry said a “terrorist plot” against an unspecified facility was thwarted Wednesday when a Kuwaiti citizen affiliated with the Islamic State group was detained shortly before carrying out his plan. The ministry said the man had received training on making explosives and activating drones to be used in the planned attack. The ministry said a vital facility had been targeted but gave no further details.
