Rachel Chason

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The Persian Gulf nations are building up their own defenses and finding routes around the Strait of Hormuz, officials said, as they confront a U.S. war against Iran with no end in sight.

In war-weary Lebanon, Israeli strikes have intensified in response to Hezbollah drone attacks.

Iran fired a barrage of missiles at a U.S. base in Jordan overnight, the latest salvo in a conflict that has in recent days seen Iranian leaders signaling an increasingly aggressive posture.

BEIRUT — Israel has in recent days ramped up strikes in southern Lebanon, killing more than two dozen people and prompting fears of an even larger-scale military escalation ahead of Israel's elections.

Houthi control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait would be a setback for the Trump administration in its war with Iran, which has already blocked the Strait of Hormuz.

AMMAN, Jordan — Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen seized a key port city on the Red Sea on Thursday, providing what could be substantial leverage for the Iranian regime in the ongoing U.S.-Iran war.

If the militants gain complete control of Bab al-Mandab Strait, it will increase Tehran’s leverage in its standoff with the Trump administration.

AMMAN, Jordan — A key Saudi Arabian pipeline to the Red Sea was shut down after it was hit with “multiple attacks,” the official Saudi news agency

The small country, known for discretion and neutrality, was a mediator with Iran at the U.S.’s request. Omanis wonder what the president heard to trigger him.

Iran said that Saudi Arabia, which is facing threats by Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Iraqi militias, called off a high-level meeting planned in Oman.