By Mohammad Yunus Yawar , Sayed Hassib, Ahmad Masih Noori and Rick Noack

ISLAM QALA, Afghanistan, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Mohammad Saeed had just turned 18 when he fled to Iran with his parents and younger brother and sister, escaping the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Now Saeed and his family are among thousands who have returned home to escape the economic crisis in Iran triggered by the conflict with the U.S. and Israel.

The family came back nearly empty-handed, Saeed said.

By Kanishka Singh

Sept 16 (Reuters) - Pop star Ed Sheeran's opening acts and his own band have quit his U.S. tour in solidarity with rapper Macklemore, who was cut from the musical lineup over his "free Palestine" remarks on stage criticizing Israeli government actions in Gaza and the West Bank.

The backlash from Sheeran's touring companions came after the English-born singer-songwriter, one of the world's top-selling recording artists, distanced himself from Macklemore's ouster, saying on Tuesday the decision to dump the rap star came from tour organizers, not him.

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - US PresidentDonald Trump said on Wednesday he hoped an end to the war against Iran was near and a media report separately said he is expected to meet Gulf leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to discuss the conflict.

His comments come with the Iran war in its seventh month and with no immediate end in sight.

Axios reported late on Wednesday Trump's meeting with Gulf leaders next week in New York is expected to focus on USplans for a postwar strategy.

The Palestinian Authority on Thursday slammed a US decision to refuse its officials visas to attend the UN General Assembly in New York next week, a move which includes president Mahmoud Abbas according to a source familiar with the case.

In a statement that did not mention Abbas by name, the State Department said it would deny visas to members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and officials with the Palestinian Authority (PA).

By Timour Azhari, Alexander Cornwell, Gram Slattery and Humeyra Pamuk

Sept 16 (Reuters) - US officials met representatives of Yemen'sHouthis 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.

JERUSALEM, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday to pass a law to revoke the citizenship of anyone who defames Israel's soldiers, his latest threat against the Israeli directors of "NAZA", a documentary about soldiers' killing of Gaza civilians.

Directed by Israeli journalists ‌Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, NAZA alleges that mass civilian deaths were routinely built into Israeli targeting decisions in Gaza, something Netanyahu and the military reject.

By Jana Choukeir and Nayera Abdallah

Sept 16 (Reuters) - Saudi warplanes pounded Yemen, the Houthis said on Wednesday, as the Iran-backed fighters solidified their gains after a lightning advance that has extended Tehran's reach in the Middle East war and further disrupted global oil supplies.

In a sign of the worsening conflict in a new theatre, the United States tightened its travel warning for Saudi Arabia, banning government employees from travelling within 20 miles of the Yemen border.

By Michael Georgy, Jana Choukeir and Maha El Dahan

DUBAI, Sept 16 - AbdulMalik al-Houthi, an elusive figure who commands a battle-hardened force, scored his biggest military victory in years when his Iran-aligned Houthi militant group swept through Yemen's Red Sea coastline and tightened their grip on a vital shipping waterway, rattling oil superpower Saudi Arabia.

Yemeni government forces clashed with Houthi fighters near the Saudi border, with AFP footage showing soldiers in armoured vehicles and trucks pushing across desert terrain under the crackle of machine-gun fire.

The Houthis also released footage on Wednesday of the fighting in the northwestern Al-Jawf area, as well as a video purporting to show the downing of a fighter jet belonging to Saudi Arabia, the group's longtime foe and the Yemeni government's main backer.

By Samia Nakhoul and Timour Azhari

ANKARA, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The Houthi capture of ground overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb Strait has dealt Saudi Arabia its gravest setback in Yemen in years, exposing intelligence failures, the collapse of Yemeni allies and the limits of U.S. protection.

A Houthi advance this week along the Red Sea coast and the capture of islands at the mouth of the strait, a vital artery for global oil supplies, has also left the kingdom scrambling for backing as Iran and its allies expand their reach.