US says strikes on Iran-linked targets just 'the beginning'
The BBC's Paul Adams on the routes out of this 'dangerous moment' in the Middle East
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The BBC's Paul Adams on the routes out of this 'dangerous moment' in the Middle East
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Edited by Francesca Gillett in Washington DC
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Watch: Moment explosions hit Sana'a overnight
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Footage authenticated by our BBC Verify team shows the moment explosions hit Yemen's capital Sana'a last night amid joint strikes by the US and UK.
The blasts lit up the night sky in the south of the city.
Iran is the real issue here - defence expert
We've been hearing from Dr Patrick Bury - a defence and security expert from the University of Bath and former Nato analyst.
He's told our colleagues on the BBC News channel that he believes the key problem for the US and UK is if Iran decides to "keep supplying missile systems and radar to the Houthis as they get destroyed".
"That becomes much more difficult for the allies to stop," he adds.
What the US and UK are trying to do is "destroy enough of the stuff coming in to signal to Iran" that it's not worth trying to supply the Houthis, Bury says.
"The next play isn't so much about the Houthis, who I think are very difficult to get to back down" but is more about Iran, says Bury.
He says that negotiations towards a ceasefire in Gaza could "take some of the oxygen out of the flames which are starting to burn across the region".
This would both give Iran a reason to tell their proxies to cool off their attacks, while maintaining its show of strength, Bury says.
Sunak: RAF Typhoon jets 'took out' military targets in Yemen
We've just seen an update on X, formerly known as Twitter, from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that says "last night Royal Air Force Typhoons successfully took out specific Houthi military targets in Yemen".
The strikes are "further degrading the Houthis' capabilities", Sunak adds, and he calls the attacks on UK and international vessels "unacceptable".
"It's our duty to protect innocent lives and preserve freedom," he adds.
Strikes are 'very counterproductive' - international relations lecturer
The US and UK strikes on Houthi targets are "very counterproductive", according to Dr Amal Saad, who is an international relations lecturer at Cardiff University.
Speaking on the BBC News channel a little earlier, she says "if anything the Houthis have been increasing their attacks on these ships" since the strikes against them.
Saad continues by saying the attacks used to be confined to Israel-linked ships and they now include any vessels with links to the US or the UK.
Asked about Iran’s influence on the Houthis, Saad says that while the country is leading the “so-called resistance axis” it isn't as simple as a “proxy-sponsor relationship”, as the groups in the region are all independent.
“The Houthis are very autonomous actors, they have their own agenda," she adds.
Cameron: Iran will be 'held accountable'
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has said Iran will be "held accountable" for its "proxies", as the UK and US conduct further air strikes in Yemen against the Iranian-backed Houthis.
Iran has denied any role in an attack which killed three US soldiers in Jordan last weekend, but responsibility for the drone strike has been claimed by the Iranian-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
Speaking to The Sunday Times shortly before Friday's strikes in Iraq and Syria, Cameron says: "We need to send the clearest possible signal to Iran that what they’re doing through their proxies is unacceptable."
Cameron continues by saying he's "had a very robust conversation" with the Iranian foreign minister in which he told him "these proxies are your proxies; you cannot disclaim your responsibility for them".
"You will ultimately be held accountable for what they do," Cameron adds.
The headlines at midday
Good afternoon.
It's just gone 12:00 GMT here in our London newsroom. For those of you in need of a catch up, here are the main lines:
BBC Verify
Satellite images show US damage to ammunition storage in Syria
Let's take a step back from the strikes on the Houthis for a moment, to talk about Friday's strikes on targets in Syria and Iraq.
On Friday 2 February, the US-led coalition hit a number of targets in the two countries.
Among them, an important ammunition storage facility in Eastern Syria.
BBC Verify has been analysing a series of satellite images from the region and has located the site in Ayyash, about 10km (6 miles) north of Deir al-Zour city.
An image from 1 February shows the sites, composed of over 20 buildings, in good condition. While an image from 3 February shows the same site now completely destroyed.
This site is well known to the US intelligence as it is connected to Iran-backed groups. The site had already been targeted by US strikes in August 2022.
Watch: RAF aircraft take off for strikes against Houthi targets
Video content
UK Ministry of Defence footage shows the moment RAF aircraft took off last night from an airbase in Cyprus under cover of darkness.
The US and UK have been conducting joint air strikes against Houthi rebel targets in Yemen since 11 January.
Rare access aboard the USS Bataan
Nafiseh Kohnavard
BBC Persian Middle East correspondent, in Baghdad
Recently I was given rare access to embark on the USS Bataan - an amphibious warship that had just come back from its mission in the Red Sea to the eastern Mediterranean.
The marines and navy sailors on board were the first responders to Houthi attacks that started in November.
From what the pilots and commanders told me, I could sense they were somehow surprised by the Houthis' capabilities for carrying those missiles and drone attacks.
Capt Earl Ehrhart tells me the Houthis have shown their capabilities lately "with a lot of active and kinetic strikes”.
Ehrhart also says he successfully managed to intercept seven one-way drones with his jet but the number of drones and missiles the militants were firing, especially in the first days, was more than the US forces expected.
“There was a lot of traffic flying near, over, and then towards us, from the Houthis, in those one-way attack drones that became a great concern for our ships themselves,” he says.
Despite the challenges, commanders on the USS Bataan believe the US-led coalition’s operations can ultimately deter the Houthis from targeting commercial ships.
Although they are warning there is still the danger that things could escalate.
Iran denounces Yemen strikes
Iran says the US and UK strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen contradict the countries' claims of wanting to avoid a wider Middle East conflict.
Iran warns that further strikes are "a threat to international peace and security" following a third round of strikes targeting the Iran-backed rebel group, in response to its repeated attacks on international vessels in the Red Sea.
The strikes are "in clear contradiction with the repeated claims of Washington and London that they do not want the expansion of war and conflict in the region," Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani, says in a statement
The statement adds that the US and the UK are "fuelling chaos, disorder, insecurity and instability" in the region by supporting Israel.
Cameron: Houthis 'must stop' Red Sea attacks
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron says the Houthi attacks on international shipping "must stop" following the latest UK-US strikes.
This third round of joint action comes after "repeated warnings" for the Iran-backed group to cease their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, he writes in a post on X.
Cameron adds: "Their reckless actions are putting innocent lives at risk, threatening the freedom of navigation and destabilising the region."
The burner keeps getting hotter
Jeremy Bowen
International Editor, in Jerusalem
Well, it’s another round of strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, who’ve been attacking shipping in the Red Sea.
I think it’s sending, once again, a message that Britain, America and their allies do not want them to do that.
However, I’ve had a lot to do with the Houthis over the years - and I’m pretty certain they will not be deterred by this. Instead, they will be trying to answer it with another attack.
But coming on top of the American strikes on those pro-Iranian targets in Syria and Iraq, it has led to another wave of concern over the degree to which this regional war becomes even hotter and more dangerous - and how that can be controlled.
I don’t think anybody is in control over the rate at which this happens.
Don’t forget: war is messy, things happen.
Perhaps a raid is carefully calibrated, but then it might lead to a response, or it might hit the wrong target, or it might kill more people than expected – and it ratchets up again.
I think, and this is echoed by quite a few Western officials I’ve spoken to, a lot of it goes back to the war in Gaza.
If a ceasefire is possible in Gaza, it could cool the region down. But while the war is going on - while Palestinians are still being killed and Hamas continues to hold those Israeli hostages - the burner keeps getting hotter in what happens around the region.
That, of course, is something everybody needs to be concerned about.
In Pictures: Houthi tribesmen gather in show of defiance
Groups of Houthi rebels have been gathering in a show of defiance following the latest US and UK air strikes.
The strikes, on 36 Houthi targets across 13 locations in Yemen, were carried out after repeated attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea.
The Houthis, a rebel group backed and funded by Iran, have vowed to respond to the strikes.
The Houthis vow to respond to strikes
The Houthis have vowed to respond to US and British strikes after dozens of targets of the Iran-backed group were hit in retaliation for repeated attacks on vessels passing through the Red Sea.
A spokesperson for the rebel group said on X this third round of joint UK-US strikes would not deter them from their "moral, religious and humanitarian stance" in support of Palestinians.
The Houthis have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea since November. An estimated 15% of global trade passes through the Red Sea every year, worth more than $1tn (£790bn). Many shipping firms have begun avoiding the area and are using a much longer route around southern Africa instead.
According to the Houthis, 48 strikes took place in the space of a few hours and targeted the capital Sana'a as well as other locations across the country. There have not yet been any reported casualties.
In a joint statement, the US, the UK and other countries providing support for the operation said the third round of strikes hit "36 Houthi targets across 13 locations in Yemen".
Recap: What led to the US and UK's latest strikes?
Good morning if you are just joining us. As we've been reporting, US and UK forces launched joint air strikes against 36 Houthi targets across 13 locations in Yemen.
Let's take a brief look back at some of the key events in recent weeks and months which have led to this point.
November 2023 - The Houthis, who are an Iran-backed rebel group which considers Israel an enemy, start attacking ships in the Red Sea. The group says it is targeting ships with links to Israel in response to the war in the Gaza Strip. However, many of the attacked vessels have no connection to the country.
11 January - The US and UK launch joint air strikes against Houthi rebel targets in Yemen, with the aim of undermining their ability to attack cargo ships and disrupt global supply chains.
22 January - Fresh strikes are conducted by the US and UK after Houthi attacks continue.
28 January - Three US troops are killed in a drone strike on a US base near Jordan's border with Syria. US President Biden blames "radical Iran-backed militant groups" but Iran denies any involvement in the attack. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a group that's believed to contain multiple militias that have been armed, funded and trained by Iran's Revolutionary Guards force, eventually claims responsibility for the strike.
Friday 2 February - The US launches the first wave of retaliation strikes on Iran-backed militants in Iraq and Syria.
Saturday 3 February - The US and UK launch their latest joint strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.
'We're living in a far more dangerous world' - defence committee chairman
Sir Jeremy Quin MP, chair of the defence committee, tells BBC Breakfast this morning that the strikes against the Houthis are a "proportionate response" and warns the UK needs to be prepared for war if it wants to avoid it.
Speaking after the committee warned the UK's armed forces would not be ready for a "high-intensity" war unless shortages in personnel and equipment were addressed, Quin says: "You need to be ready for any eventuality."
"We’re living in a far more dangerous world."
Referencing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he adds: "Undoubtedly the prospects of a major war have increased and we need to rise to that challenge. By rising to the challenge, I sincerely hope and believe that we will avoid it."
Middle East expert says Iran could end Houthi attacks 'plain and simple'
A spate of attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis on shipping vessels in the Red Sea, in response to the Israel-Gaza war, has been countered by joint US-UK airstrikes in recent weeks.
The Houthis' position is that they are preventing ships affiliated with Israel from crossing the key route. In reality, most ships that have been attacked have had no link to Israel.
Washington and London say their aim is to stop the attacks that have disrupted global supply chains and caused major shipping companies to re-route their vessels.
Both Iran and the US maintain that they do not want any further escalation.
Benjamin Radd, a senior fellow with the UCLA Burkle Center for international relations, tells the BBC that if Iran opted to "cease funding, training and supplying intelligence, logistical support and weapons [to the Houthis], these attacks would come to an end - plain and simple".
"If and when Iran chooses to exercise that option it can do so," Radd adds.
US strikes in three countries across 24 hours is a sign of the times
Orla Guerin
Reporting from Baghdad
As we've been reporting, a third round of joint strikes was carried out by the US and UK, targeting Houthi targets in Yemen.
The aim, we are told, is to try to deter further attacks against international shipping.
The Americans said they had destroyed six anti-ship missiles that the Houthis were preparing to use.
But it is a sign of the times, and a sign of the current instability in the Middle East, that we are talking about US strikes in three different countries in a 24-hour period.
We have last night's strikes against the Houthis. We had Friday night's strikes in Iraq and Syria - hitting 85 targets.
It is important to say that the fundamentals do not appear to have shifted. Washington has responded, it has hit back after the killing of American service personnel.
But it is still making it clear it does not want a further escalation, and the mood music from Tehran is the same. There have been angry words from Tehran, but nothing else.
There has been anger here too in Baghdad, the government accusing the US of stoking instability, but we haven't seen any response from the Iranian-backed militias. They appear to be lying low.
America's critics in the region insist that the US is risking making an unstable situation even worse. But the Americans are pinning a lot on the diplomatic mission of Antony Blinken - who is hoping against all hope to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.
A calibrated response
Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Baghdad
It was a large-scale attack by the US and the UK on Houthi positions in Yemen, the latest in a campaign aimed at stopping their strikes against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The goal has been to degrade the ability the Houthis have to carry out those attacks, without killing many of them.
So far, however, the attacks by the Houthis, who say they are acting in support of Palestinians in Gaza, have continued.
The latest US-UK strikes happened less than 24 hours after the US targeted dozens of Iranian interests along the Iraq-Syria border, in response to a deadly attack on a US base in Jordan last Sunday that American officials say was carried out by an Iranian-supported militia.
Just as in Yemen, those strikes were calibrated. They were aimed at destroying infrastructure and came after days of warnings by the Biden administration, apparently to minimise casualties and reduce tensions with Iran.
It is still not clear how effective the attacks in Yemen, Syria and Iraq will be, and how – or if – Iran and its proxies will respond.
There was condemnation from Tehran, as expected, but no threats. In Gaza, the war that has exacerbated tensions across the region continues.
Talks for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are under way, the main hope to help avert even more violence.
No Houthi attacks reported since latest US-UK strikes
There have been no attacks yet reported in the Red Sea by the Houthis since this latest round of Western air strikes in Yemen.
On Saturday, before the strikes took place, the militants released photos showing their military training exercises.
Some of the images showed weapons destroying mock targets bearing the flags of the UK, US and Israel.