Iran War Live Updates: Iran-Backed Houthis Expand Conflict With Red Sea Blockade

 

Iran War Live Updates: Iran-Backed Houthis Expand Conflict With Red Sea Blockade

The move against Saudi ships will add new pressure on energy markets. Tehran said it had received new proposals from mediators, while the U.S. launched strikes against Iran for a 10th consecutive night.

 

Aaron Boxerman Ismaeel Naar and Sanam Mahoozi

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/07/20/world/iran-war-strikes-trump-hormuz

 

Here’s the latest.

The Houthis, the Iranian-backed armed faction in Yemen, on Monday said they would impose a blockade on Saudi ships, threatening to open a new front in the Middle East conflict and raising the pressure on volatile global energy markets.

 

The announcement was made as many in the region were tensely watching to see if the rounds of bombardment between U.S. and Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf would continue to escalate. The two countries traded new attacks on Monday, with Iran targeting countries that host U.S. military bases, despite efforts by mediators to calm tensions, and the United States then launching strikes on Iran for a 10th consecutive night.

 

The latest hostilities initially focused on the Strait of Hormuz, but they have expanded into a cycle of attacks and counterattacks that have killed at least three American service members since Friday, hit Arab states across the Persian Gulf and damaged critical infrastructure in Iran and U.S.-allied Kuwait.

 

President Trump responded to the service members’ deaths by warning Iran on social media that “every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over,” a directive he said had been relayed to U.S. military officials.

 

On Monday, the U.S. military said that the number of American service members wounded in the war in the past two weeks had risen to nearly 100. The “vast majority” of those injuries, it said, were “mild concussions.”

 

Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz has reduced global fuel supplies, pushing prices upward, but Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, has been able to reroute some of its exports through the Red Sea. If the Houthis follow through on their statement that they will not allow Saudi vessels to pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the southern portal to the Red Sea, it would worsen the global fuel crisis.

 

Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, said on Monday that the move came in response to what he called a “continued Saudi siege” on Yemen. Analysts said that narrative was likely directed at a domestic audience, and that the Houthis’ actions were closely tied to Iran’s interests.

 

While U.S. and Iranian officials said that they were open to a diplomatic offramp, there was little sign on Monday of significant progress since a cease-fire agreed last month collapsed.

 

Esmail Baghaei, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, said on Monday that mediators had sent Tehran proposals for de-escalating tensions, but declined to offer details.

 

The Trump administration has been noncommittal about new negotiations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Sunday that “if that door opens, we’ll be happy to see it open.” But he added that Iran’s “behavior has to change in order for ours to change.”

 

Iranian forces fired on Kuwait and Bahrain — both of which host U.S. forces — overnight and on Monday, the two countries said. At least 50 people have been killed in Iran since the cease-fire broke down, according to the Iranian authorities.

 

Here’s what else we’re covering:

 

Troop deaths: The latest confirmed U.S. military death occurred on Saturday, when a soldier was struck by fragments or debris from the controlled detonation of a drone in Iraq, said a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The official also said that remains recovered at the scene of the Iranian attack in Jordan were believed to be those of a missing soldier. Read more ›

 

Lebanon plan: Mr. Trump will meet President Joseph Aoun of Lebanon at the White House on Tuesday. The United States has brokered a fragile cease-fire in southern Lebanon, where Israel has occupied swaths of territory in its campaign against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia. The State Department and the Israeli military said that work began on Monday on a plan that would see Israel hand over control of some areas to the Lebanese army.