Iranian drone attacks on Bahrain ramp up pressure on US to end war

Iran and its allies ramped up pressure on the US and allied Gulf states on two fronts on Sunday, with Saudi-backed forces retreating in their battle against the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen and Iran firing drones at US bases ‌in Bahrain.

In Yemen Saudi Arabia’s campaign against the Houthis suffered a setback as its allies, fighting on behalf of the internationally recognised Yemeni government, pulled back from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to defend their temporary capital Aden on the southern coast.

The announcement signalled the ​apparent end of a six-week government counteroffensive to drive the Houthis from the mouth of the Red Sea to secure a key oil route.

Iranian attacks on Bahrain, headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in the Gulf, were likely to put new pressure on US president Donald Trump to resolve the war he launched nearly nine months ago.

Since the unpopular war contributed to a defeat for his Republicans in midterm elections this month, Trump has played down the need for a diplomatic breakthrough.

Major warfare between the US and Iran ​has calmed since the early phase of the conflict, but with diplomacy stalled there is little immediate prospect of a resolution either to the wider conflict or the war in Yemen.

Sunday’s announcement of a Yemeni government retreat raises the prospect of new Houthi advances towards ⁠Aden on the southern coast, base of the internationally recognised government since the Houthis drove it from the capital Sanaa more than a decade ago.

“The Southern Armed Forces announce the implementation of ‌a redeployment ‌operation ​for its forces from Dhubab Airport and the Bab el-Mandeb area, west of Taiz Governorate,” the main military force fighting for Yemen’s government in the south of the country said in a statement.

“This step is taken based on the priority of securing the capital, Aden, and the neighbouring governorates, as well as strengthening the front lines ⁠and addressing existing threats.”

[ Bahrain intercepts Iranian aerial attacks as Tehran says it attacked US baseOpens in new window ]

There was no immediate response from the Houthis, or from Saudi Arabia.

The ​retreat signals a setback for efforts to reverse rapid gains the Houthis made in September to capture ​the coast along the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that controls access to it.

A Saudi-backed government offensive last month retook key positions around the strait but failed to drive the Houthis away from the area or ‌retake the city of al-Mocha further up the coast.

The Houthis have responded by ​intensifying drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, grounding flights with strikes on its main airports as well as setting global oil markets on edge by targeting energy facilities.

Yemeni military sources said government ⁠forces around the Bab el-Mandeb had redeployed to al-Suqyah, 150kmwest of Aden, though ⁠they were still trying to push the Houthis from coastal ​areas nearby.

In the highlands north of Aden, where the Houthis have besieged Yemen’s third-largest city Taiz, the fighters are now positioned just outside the district of Tur al-Bahah, about 80km from the city, the sources said.

Humanitarian conditions are worsening in Taiz, which hosts about half of the 300,000 people displaced across Yemen by the latest fighting. Aid supplies are unable to enter and civilians are unable to leave.

[ Trump says US does not need Iran deal and directs Vance to focus on domestic corruptionOpens in new window ]

Fresh Iranian strikes on Bahrain, home to US bases, could undermine Trump’s desire to turn the page on the war following his Republicans’ midterm election rout.

Trump has said in recent days that he might hold off from attacking Iran if the US faces no new provocations from Tehran or the Houthis in Yemen, although he would maintain a US naval blockade on Iran, Reuters reported on Saturday.

Bahrain said it intercepted and destroyed several Iranian aerial attacks, the first such interceptions by its air defences since September.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it ‌had attacked a US military base in Bahrain with ⁠six drones in retaliation for “hostile US actions”, Iran’s Fars news agency reported.

Crude oil has ‌been flowing out of the Gulf in recent weeks at near pre-war levels. But attacks on ships have become a daily hazard, keeping markets jittery and prices still elevated. – Reuters