Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the United States was signaling openness to negotiations while simultaneously planning military escalation, adding Tehran would not accept what he described as attempts at coercion.

His remarks came as thousands of U.S. Marines began arriving in the region, with the first contingents deployed aboard an amphibious assault ship, according to the U.S. military.

The conflict, triggered by U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, has killed thousands and severely disrupted oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, particularly through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global energy shipments.

Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt met in Islamabad to discuss pathways to de-escalation, with Pakistan positioning itself as a potential intermediary between Washington and Tehran. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held talks a day earlier with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, while Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar conducted bilateral meetings with his Turkish and Egyptian counterparts ahead of broader consultations.

Parallel military-level engagements are also underway. Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir remains in contact with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, according to a source familiar with the discussions, indicating ongoing coordination alongside diplomatic outreach.

A Turkish official said Ankara was working with partners on a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as part of confidence-building measures tied to a potential ceasefire.

The United States has previously outlined a 15-point ceasefire framework, including reopening the waterway and curbing Iran’s nuclear programme, though Tehran has rejected the proposal and advanced its own terms.

Despite diplomatic efforts, hostilities continued. Israel said it struck dozens of targets across Iran, including weapons production and storage facilities in Tehran, while Iranian media reported casualties from strikes on southern port infrastructure.

The conflict has expanded geographically, with Iran-linked Houthi forces launching attacks on Israel, raising concerns about renewed threats to commercial shipping routes. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, while risks are also rising around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key gateway to the Suez Canal.U.S. officials, cited by the Washington Post, said the Pentagon was preparing for the possibility of prolonged ground operations, including special operations raids and conventional troop deployments, though it remains unclear whether President Donald Trump will authorize such action.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington could achieve its objectives without deploying ground forces but emphasized the need for military flexibility.Oil prices have surged toward $100 per barrel since the conflict began, reflecting supply disruptions and heightened geopolitical risk.

Iran has allowed limited passage for Pakistani-flagged vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, permitting two ships per day, according to Pakistani officials.

The conflict is also reverberating domestically in the United States, where protests have taken place in multiple cities amid growing public opposition.

With midterm elections approaching, the war has added pressure on the administration as it weighs military escalation against diplomatic resolution.

Secretary Rubio highlighted that this designation fulfills one of President Donald Trump’s key promises upon assuming office. Quoting Executive Order 14175, Rubio stated that “the Houthis’ activities threaten the security of American civilians and personnel in the Middle East, the safety of our closest regional partners, and the stability of global maritime trade.”

Houthis’ Escalating Threats

Since 2023, the Houthis have carried out hundreds of attacks against commercial vessels navigating the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. These attacks have also targeted U.S. service members engaged in defending freedom of navigation and ensuring the security of regional allies. Notably, the Houthis have allegedly spared Chinese-flagged ships while singling out American and allied vessels, further intensifying concerns over their strategic intent.

Crackdown on Terrorist Affiliations

The U.S. government has issued a stern warning against any country or entity engaging with the Houthis under the guise of legitimate international business. The new designation is expected to strengthen measures that restrict financial and logistical support to the group, thereby weakening its operational capabilities.

“Terrorist designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective way to curtail support for terrorist activities,” Rubio emphasized.

Implications of the FTO Designation

The designation, made under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, will take effect upon publication in the Federal Register. The classification imposes stringent restrictions on financial transactions involving the group, cutting off avenues of international support and further isolating the Houthis on the global stage.

Additionally, the Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program has announced a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the disruption of Ansarallah’s financial mechanisms. Individuals with relevant intelligence can find more details and submit tips at Rewards for Justice.

This move is expected to trigger diplomatic responses from global stakeholders, particularly in the Middle East, as the Biden administration works to balance security imperatives with broader regional stability.

Yemenis all over the world are excited for the outcomes of the Saudi peace initiatives.

Saudi Arabia denied the reports about the accusations for carrying out a military operation on an armored division of Iran-backed Houthi rebels after announcing ceasefire in the region.

On the 19th of March, Saudi Arabia announced ceasefire in Yemen and proposed a peace initiative in a continued attempt to find lasting peace in the Yemen. “An opportunity to end the crisis and for all sides in Yemen to put the interest of the Yemeni people and of Yemen first”, said Faisal Bin Farhan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Saudi Arabia in his tweet.

The cause of the conflict in Yemen began due to the failure of a political transition from longtime president Ali Abdullah Saleh to his deputy Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi in 2011. This transition followed with the loyalty to Saleh, employment and food insecurity triggered a separatist movement in the south of Yemen initiating struggles for the Yemeni government to prosper and maintain law and order. 

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels identified the vulnerability of the Yemeni government, who even in the past decade on multiple occasions disrupted the government by rebelling and fighting. In 2011, they took control of the northern heartland of Saada province and nearby areas. Later in 2014 and 2015 these rebels took over the capital Sanaa forcing Mr. Hadi to flee abroad.

The rise of the extremist Houthi rebels compelled the government of Saudi Arabia to get involved for restoring law and order in the region. Saudi Arabia and eight Arab states commenced the campaign to defeat Iranian regime sponsored militias and restoring Yemeni government.

The peace initiative proposed by Saudi Arabia includes ceasefire across the country under the supervision of United Nations, the reopening of Sanaa international airport, start of the consultations between the parties to reach a political resolution under the supervision of the United Nations, depositing taxes and custom revenues for ships carrying oil derivatives in the port of Hodeihah in the joint account of the central Bank of Yemen in accordance with the Stockholm agreement of Hodeidah, which was agreed upon in 2018 to ceasefire at the port of Hudeihah, Salif, Ras Issa and the city of Taiz and a prisoner release program to which the Houthis failed to comply in 2019.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal said, “the ball is in the Houth’s court for Yemen ceasefire”. While Yemenis all over the world are excited for the outcomes of the Saudi peace initiatives.

A Yemeni citizen and a Saudi resident said, “If Houthis accept this proposal it’s going to change the outlook of Yemen, the prices will go down, people will come out again and a normal Yemen will cherish once again”.

Another Yemeni citizen expressed his doubts about the Houthis accepting the peace proposal, “Saudi proposals in the past have been denied or voided by the Yemeni Houthi rebels so it’s better we hold our expectations till we know”, the Yemenis and the world waits on the question whether or not Iran-backed Houthis will let Yemen prosper again.

Jaafar Siddiqui has recently earned Bachelors in Journalism from the University of Hertfordshire — United Kingdom.

“I also intend to designate three of Ansar Allah’s leaders, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, Abd al-Khaliq Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and Abdullah Yahya al Hakim, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists”, he said.

The Trump administration has been piling on sanctions related to Iran in recent weeks, prompting some Biden allies and outside analysts to conclude that Trump aides are seeking to make it harder for the incoming administration to re-engage with Iran and rejoin an international nuclear agreement.

Aid groups and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had warned against a possible designation, saying Yemen was in imminent danger of the worst famine the world has seen for decades.

Pompeo said the United States planned to put in place measures to reduce the impact of the step on humanitarian activity and imports into Yemen, where 80% of the population needs help.

The foreign ministry of Yemen, which the Houthis ousted from power in the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014, supported the designation and called for further “political and legal pressure” on the Houthis.

Based on inputs from Reuters.

The ultimate ambition for the Islamic Republic is not merely control over the regional “Shiite Crescent,” but the resurrection of a chimera of the Persian Empire based on Khomeinist ideological principles.

While most of the Western world is preoccupied with Iran’s role in Iraq and Syria, Yemen—the “forgotten conflict”—remains an integral and growing theater of operations for the expanding Iranian sphere of influence.

The Houthis of Yemen are much more than the nemesis of Saudi Arabia. They are radicalized Shiites with Persian roots. While they come from a once peaceful Zaidi tradition, they are increasingly a global menace. They have threatened the UAE and Israel and have expressed hatred for the US.

By taking advantage of side conflicts between other Yemeni factions, such as the separatist Southern Traditional Council (which has broken with the fragile Riyadh agreement and declared autonomy in part of Aden) and the local Muslim Brotherhood branch (known as the Islah Party and Brigade), the Houthis have been expanding their territorial control while making a political power grab. They are essentially displacing the internationally recognized Hadi government, which is now in exile.

With the rise of the Houthis, Yemen has become a global hub for ballistic missile import, terrorist operations, and centralized corruption and money laundering. While many analysts have recommended a strategy to separate the Houthis from their Iranian masters and funders, this advice has largely fallen on deaf ears. This could be due to the sheer commitment and level of coordination required for such a task, the US move away from participation in long-term strategic operations, or the differences and miscommunication among the anti-Iran Arab states. In any case, as the Houthis consolidate their control over the country and gain international legitimacy while integrating into the broader network of Iran’s other regional and international proxies, this approach is becoming increasingly difficult to implement.

The relationship between the Houthi movement’s founders and the Islamic Republic predates the current civil war, which started with the “September Coup.” Tehran’s strategy of exporting the Islamic Revolution took root when it figured out a way to do so cheaply, without having to spread its military everywhere: by coopting Shiite-leaning local grievance groups, separatist movements, and ostracized factions. By doing this, Iran could build entire armies of followers. As the expense of foreign adventurism began to add up, Iran turned these affiliates into effective fundraisers.

Iran has transformed its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah into a lethal quasi-formal military that also runs criminal schemes around the world. Hezbollah can be thrown into any theater of war to supplement the IRGC and other Iran-backed forces. Hezbollah is also used to train other forces. Groups like the Houthis were promised eventual power and control in exchange for complete fealty not just to Iran as a power but to Khomeinist principles.

After Hezbollah, Iran set about training similar forces in Iraq, Syria, and Nigeria, and is even eyeing converts in Latin America. While Hezbollah runs Iran’s shadow economy through a globalized organized crime network, the Houthis supplement this effort by fundraising for Hezbollah.

Their relationship evolved over time, with the Houthis morphing from a separatist movement allegedly confronting state corruption into a miniature model of Iran itself. It has a similar approach to governance, a colonialist frame of reference for running the country, and a deep-rooted racism applied to policies with increasing formality.

The Houthis practice preferential treatment in the distribution of humanitarian aid in the territories they control, using it as an incentive to recruit followers for their militias. A recent and broad-reaching example is the “Khums” tax, which exacts 20% of all public and private property as a tribute to the “Hashemites,” descendants of the tribe into which the Prophet Muhammad was born. The tax has been widely condemned by most of the country as discriminatory, outdated, and religiously unfounded.

It does in fact have previous applications in Yemen’s past, even if the origins of the idea may be obscured by history.

Dr. Arwa Khattab, an academic writer and human rights activist based in Berlin, spoke at a recent symposium about a much earlier era in which the tax was applied in Yemen. The Houthis are using that earlier instance to justify their reimposition of the tax as compensation for past alleged discrimination.

The tax was first introduced 1,300 years ago by the Imam Yahya Ibn Hussein. It came in the context of a power grab by local self-declared Hashemites who were issuing fatwas and rulings to help them consolidate power and wealth. Later, Imam Abdullah Ibn Hamza would use it to confiscate the property of 100,000 members of the Mutafiya sect. In the 17th century, Imam Mutawakkil once again imposed the measure. The last time this forcible confiscation of funds took place was during the period of imams, from 1918 until 1962. During that time the Yemenite people suffered multiple famines, but the money was nevertheless demanded of them and the grain they were forced to hand over rotted in the imam’s warehouses.

The timing of the Houthis’ imposition of the new tax is no coincidence. Up to this point, they have been making illicit profits by looting hospitals, diverting humanitarian aid, and running schemes. In April, however, members of WHO announced they would be cutting aid to Yemen by half due to the inability to track where it was going and to allegations of the Houthis’ systematic appropriation of the resources.

At the same time, the global context of the tax is more significant. The text of the measure that has been imposed by the Houthis—despite the lack of a parliament to approve it into law—allocates a portion of land and natural resources, including mines, to the Hashemites. It even diverts mandatory zakat (charity) away from the poor and toward the Hashemites. This could be seen as a ploy to fill Houthi war coffers for the sake of their ongoing efforts against the Arab Coalition, but the story is more complex. True Hashemite descent is very difficult to prove, but the simple claim of being a Hashemite earns a level of respect among Khomeinist followers. Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah and even some of the ayatollahs claim to be of Hashemite descent.

Why the need for this sham? Iran is taking advantage of regional chaos and a vacuum of power to consolidate control over local resources and destabilized states, and is imposing the Khomeinist system of governance wherever it can. The ultimate ambition for the Islamic Republic is not merely control over the regional “Shiite Crescent,” but the resurrection of a chimera of the Persian Empire based on Khomeinist ideological principles. The object is to combine extreme nationalism and ethnocentrism based on a mythological perception of Iran’s history, as well as revolutionary Shiite Islamism.

However, to secure religious legitimacy in the region, particularly among Sunnis, Iran needs to gain access to Mecca and Medina, holy sites for all Muslim sects. Achieving that goal will not be easy given that not all Shiites, much less Sunnis, are on board with Iran’s geopolitical agenda. For that reason, Iran is seeking to reintroduce the concept of Hashemites as the sole religious and political authority (in the Islamist view). The idea is to delegitimize and displace governments in those Arab/Muslim majority states that are not governed by descendants of the Hashemites (Morocco and Jordan).

Saudi Arabia, Iran’s regional foil, is the ultimate target of this maneuver. Building support for Hashemite control will take time, but Iran is willing to align itself with any state, organization, movement, or entity that shares its agenda, if only until the goal of displacing inconvenient governments is accomplished.

The imposition of the Khums tax is the first step toward a systematic reintroduction of these principles to the region on a mass scale. Iran might have made successful inroads with this strategy due to the US withdrawal from regional affairs—or perhaps the US was forced to withdraw because of Iran’s overwhelming aggression, which made it impossible for the US to maintain a serious presence. Whichever of these is the case, Iran is continuing to expand its influence with little pushback. Even its seemingly localized proxies, such as the Houthis, are coordinating with better known militias and are becoming an integrated part of a network that presents a global, not just a regional, threat.

Article first appeared on The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.

Irina Tsukerman is a human rights and national security attorney based in New York. She has written extensively on geopolitics and US foreign policy for a variety of American, Israeli, and other international publications. She tweets under @irinatsukerman.

It’s Saudi Arabia’s strength to maintain its own identity and culture and stands united behind its royal family…

Saudi Arabia is considered one of the most misunderstood countries in the world. The left-wing media and human rights organizations such as HRW and Amnesty International have done a lot to prevent Saudi Arabia from gaining a good reputation in the world.

The fact is that leftists, socialists and some Greens prefer the ideologies of the Muslim brotherhood countries of Qatar and Turkey, and also the militias of the Iranian regime, because they benefit from their terrorism, the resulting wars, arms trafficking, mass immigration, human trafficking, organ trafficking, and drug trafficking, to name a few.

The Muslim Brotherhood and its allied western media have long tried to destabilize Saudi Arabia.

Qatar and Turkey spend millions on lobby firms to damage Saudi Arabia’s reputation. Many of these lobby companies, like e.g. Mercury Int. operate globally. Lobby companies provide consultants for media and politicians who use their services (for example) to inform about the conditions and situations in the Middle East.

A characteristic of the Saudis is that they want to maintain their identity, religion and culture and are well aware that there are international efforts to spoil their culture and their Islamic religion, which is associated with God’s monotheism, and had never been contaminated from Sectarianism.

In order to hide the bad intentions of political Islam, which has already infiltrated in USA and Europe, as it becomes less and less important in the Middle East, for example, Facebook hired the extremist Tawwakol Kemal to censor Facebook content, and to suspend the accounts, which share posts that are not in the Muslim Brotherhood’s interests, and also to disguise the terrorist activities of ISIS, AlQaeda, etc. and to propagate their extremist ideology as “True Islam”.

The Saudis are generous by nature, love others and love all people without discrimination, travel and learn about different cultures.

The House of Saud invests heavily in scholarships abroad and hundreds of thousands of young Saudis have the opportunity to study in the USA, EU and other countries.

The special loyalty of the Saudis to their royal house should also be emphasized, because they are convinced that the royal house protects their interests and does everything possible to serve their people and the inhabitants. Saudis are far from happy, that they are discriminated by the media and that they are not presented to the international public as they really are.

They are convinced that they convey good moral values ​​and that their king and crown prince try everything to serve humanity and especially of the Saudis.

Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that donate the most to crisis-ridden countries worldwide and has been recognized by the World Bank as the top reformer in the world.

Saudi Arabia used to consist of small emirates until King Abdal-Aziz ibn Saud united them all. He later asked his sons to protect this unity. The Saudis consider themselves part of the royal family and their love for the royal family is unconditional.

The grandparents of the young Saudis were poor Bedouins, with little education possibilities. Within 86 years, the House of Saud managed to completely eradicate illiteracy and developed Saudi Arabia into a modern, rich state with a high standard in the health and education system.

That’s the reason Saudis are infinitely grateful to their royal house and would like to present their culture and achievements, of which they are very proud, to the world.

No other nation has occupied the Arabian Peninsula since the Prophet Muhammad’s message, even though the Ottomans had tried several times in brutal wars of aggression and the Iranian Houthis and Iran itself have also been a threat to Saudi Arabia and its neighboring country Yemen, for some years.

For this reason, Saudi Arabia invests a lot of money in the purchase of weapons and defense to protect its country and its people.

It’s Saudi Arabia’s strength to maintain its own identity and culture and stands united behind its royal family, which is the reason why they are reluctant to democracy because they know that it would destroy their unity and strength, which King Abdul Aziz, struggled and envisioned to achieve for them.

Anna Sacher is an Austria-based Independent Political Analyst and Commentator. She often writes for Millichronicle. She tweets under @RealthingUlli.

In a series of Tweets, Albukhaiti highlighted that the Houthis and ISIS have one thing in common that is—using religious texts of Jihad and spreading God’s religion as a pretext to spread their terror wings.

We have repeatedly said #Houthis are the Zaidi version of ISIS. They use the same texts used by #AQAP: jihad & spreading God's religion. The Intl community will pay a high price when they discover a terrorist state has formed near the most important international shipping lines/7

— علي البخيتي (@Ali_Albukhaiti) November 11, 2019

“If the world had let ISIS establish their own state in Iraq and Syria, they would have used residents in their religious, useless wars and threatened their neighbors and the international waterways, just like Houthis do in Yemen,” Albukhaiti tweeted.

The Int'l community is mistaken to consider #Houthis a political movement. If the world had let #ISIS establish their own state, in Iraq & Syria, they would've used residents in their religious useless wars & threatened their neighbors & Int'l waterways: like Houthis in #Yemen./1

— علي البخيتي (@Ali_Albukhaiti) November 11, 2019

He said that Houthis have committed the crimes which even ISIS might not have done, referring to blowing up homes of opponents.

#Houthis are also notorious than #ISIS in blowing up their opponents' homes & belittling tribal sheiks & local figures in areas under their control. Meanwhile, they present themselves to the West that they seek peace & sharing while their actions prove otherwise./4

— علي البخيتي (@Ali_Albukhaiti) November 11, 2019

Houthis are playing cleverly by not attacking the foreigners so that they can escape drawing the attention of International community, Albukhaiti said.

“Houthis have realized that they won’t draw the attention of the Int’l community to their terrorism as long as they don’t target foreigners. They learned from what happened to their partners in terrorism: ISIS & AQAP,” said Albukhaiti.

#Houthis have realized that they won't draw the attention of the Int'l community to their terrorism as long as they don't target foreigners. They learned from what happened to their partners in terrorism: #ISIS & #AQAP & the world hasn't realized it's a new style of terrorism./6

— علي البخيتي (@Ali_Albukhaiti) November 11, 2019

Eventually, he warned the International community that Houthis pretend to seek peace and power-sharing while their acts of terrorism speak otherwise.