Yemen - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Yemen cover image

Yemen

June 28, 2026

Sanaa 4:36 am

19°C

People ride motorcycles past a large billboard showing portraits of Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (L), and slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (R) in central Tehran on June 8, 2026.

Analysis

From Beirut to Bab el Mandeb, Iran tests new deterrence strategy

Tehran views its latest clash with Israel as a watershed moment and proof that any attack on its regional allies can trigger direct and immediate retaliation.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Members of Houthi security forces stand guard while supporters of Yemen's Houthi movement attend an event commemorating the ninth anniversary of the Saudi-led intervention in their country, in the capital, Sanaa, on March 26, 2026.

Exclusive

Senior Houthi official says Bab el Mandab closure an option if any Gulf states join war

Houthi Deputy Information Minister Mohammed Mansour also said the strait could be closed “should the aggression against Iran and Lebanon escalate.”

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Saudis shop for fresh products at a market in Riyadh on Feb. 18, 2026, on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Saudi Arabia.

Analysis

Alternative supply routes emerge as Iran war tests Gulf food security

Roughly 61 million people in the Gulf rely on established food supply chains, many of which have been upended since the United States and Israel launched their attack against Iran on Feb. 28.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Latest News

Analysis

In Saudi Arabia, Erdogan fosters security alignment, $30B trade push

Riyadh

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Yemen’s Houthis hint at Red Sea attacks as US-Iran tensions rise: What to know

Galaxy Leader

Thousands rally for South Yemen independence amid Saudi diplomatic push

AFP via Getty Images

Egypt's economy can weather more Red Sea attacks, says finance minister

Ships sail along Egypt's Suez Canal near Ismailia on April 16, 2025.

A soldier loyal to Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh (in posters) holds a machine gun mounted on a patrol truck securing a street near a rally held by Saleh's supporters to mark one year of Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen's capital Sanaa March 26, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah - RTSCB4F

Lobbying 2016: Yemen turns over Washington lobbying to Saudis

A boy looks as he attends a gathering held by tribesmen loyal to the Houthi movement to show support to a political council formed by the movement and the General People's Congress party to unilaterally rule Yemen by both groups in Sanaa, August 14, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah - RTX2KP2M

Yemeni conflict goes back to square one

Yemen’s internationally recognized government and Houthi rebels and their allies continue to engage in divisive efforts rather than attempting to end their conflict.

Houthi fighters stand as they attend a tribal gathering in Yemen's capital Sanaa, August 11, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi - RTSMNUB

How Yemen plans to dry up Houthis' funding

Yemen is making major changes in its fiscal operations, hoping to get back revenue sources it says are being hijacked by Houthi rebels.

A journalist takes photos of a school destroyed by a Saudi-led air strike in the southwestern city of Taiz, Yemen July 27, 2016. REUTERS/Anees Mahyoub - RTSJWDA

Saudi Arabia may keep playing 'Iran card' to defer decision on Yemen

Yemen victim of Saudi-Iran hostility; Islamic State tries, and fails, to recruit Kurds; Al-Monitor resumes series on lobbying by Middle East governments.

A man carries a solar panel amid a severe shortage of electric power in Yemen's capital Sanaa November 28, 2015. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi - RTX1W96L

Yemenis turn to alternative energy amid power crisis

As the war continues in Yemen, increasing power cuts have driven more and more citizens to install solar panels.

Tribesmen hold up their weapons during a gathering to show support to the Houthi movement in the northern city of Saada, Yemen August 2, 2016. REUTERS/Naif Rahma - RTSKOS5

Saudi Arabia's moment of truth in Yemen

Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud has three options to choose from on Yemen, none of them good.

Yona Musa, 76, from a Yemeni descent, poses with a portrait of her and her husband on June 29, 2016 at her home in the Israeli city of Herzliya, near Tel Aviv.
Musa is one of the thousands of Israelis, mainly from Jewish Yemenite families, who claim their babies were abducted more than 60 years ago and handed to adoption. Such stories of babies from immigrant families disappearing have been told in Israel for decades, but growing calls to unseal official documents on the allegations mean new light could so

Will mystery of Israel's missing Yemenite children soon be solved?

The families of Israel's Yemenite children who disappeared in the early 1950s might be disappointed when the archives on this issue open up, as it is not certain that they will find any answers there.

A poster with an image of a soldier lies on his grave after he was killed by al Qaeda militants in the Wadi Hadramout region in northeastern Yemen, at a military cemetery in Sanaa August 10, 2014. An al Qaeda-affiliated group in Yemen said it killed 14 soldiers in an eastern province as revenge for an army offensive against its members, while a U.S. drone attack killed three suspected militants in central Yemen on Saturday, an official said. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILIT

What is the real challenge for Yemen's Hadrami Elite forces?

After Yemeni government forces took over Hadramaut governorate, which was under the AQAP’s control, the Hadrami Elite’s main challenge is to keep the Islamic State away from the governorate.

A boy sits next to food supplies he received from a local charity in Sanaa, Yemen, June 23, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi - RTX2HU73

Slow response to Yemen’s crisis points to government incompetence

As Yemen is facing its worst humanitarian and economic crisis in its modern history, the Saudi-led coalition needs to step up and restore security in the liberated areas by eliminating militias.

Digital map seeks to document 'trail of destruction' of Mideast antiquities

Government and nonprofit organizations are working together to mitigate the threats that the Islamic State, looters and others pose to Middle East antiquities.

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 01: U.S. Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) (C), speaks about the sex slave industry while flanked by (L-R), U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) (R) and U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) during a news conference on Capitol Hill, August 1, 2013 in Washington, DC. The bi partisan members of Congress discussed a plan to end the sex trafficking trade in the United States. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Saudi takes rare turn on congressional hot seat

Riyadh's support for extremist clerics is under scrutiny as Congress debates whether to allow terror victims to sue the kingdom.

Yemen peace talks stuck in stalemate

The Yemen peace talks have been hindered by the parties' unwillingness to compromise on several major issues.