Yemen Refuses to Become Iranian Platform Targeting Neighboring Countries

Houthi militants shout slogans as they ride a pick-up truck in the northwestern Yemeni city of Saada. Reuters
Houthi militants shout slogans as they ride a pick-up truck in the northwestern Yemeni city of Saada. Reuters
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Yemen Refuses to Become Iranian Platform Targeting Neighboring Countries

Houthi militants shout slogans as they ride a pick-up truck in the northwestern Yemeni city of Saada. Reuters
Houthi militants shout slogans as they ride a pick-up truck in the northwestern Yemeni city of Saada. Reuters

The Yemeni government has refused to turn Yemen into an Iranian platform to launch rockets and target neighboring countries, calling on the international community to act quickly to deter the Houthi militias firing ballistic missiles.

Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the actions of Houthi militias and their threats confirm that they have become an Iranian tool to plunge the region and the world into wars.

He said that the main objective of Iran's support of these militias is its intention to turn Yemen into a platform for firing rockets at neighboring countries.

The legitimate government refuses to turn Yemen into an Iranian platform to launch rockets in all directions, Badi added, noting that these threats require rapid action from the international community.

He stressed that before the beginning of the conflict in Yemen, the country did not have missiles similar to those fired by the militias on neighboring countries now, the latest of which was the missile launched last Saturday on Riyadh and was intercepted by the Saudi defenses, and he confirmed that they are manufactured in Iran.

For his part, Undersecretary of Yemen's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Mansour Bajash told Asharq Al-Awsat that the militia's missile attacks are part of a strategy long planned by Iran, adding that the strategy is being implemented by Iran's proxies in a number of countries.

Bajash also said that Houthi militias also threatened to strike shipping lanes in the Bab el-Mandeb straits and the Red Sea with various missiles, which requires intervention by the international community.



Turkish FM Says Sides Are Close to a Gaza Ceasefire Agreement

Turkish Foreign Minister Minister Hakan Fidan (R) shakes hands with Syrian Foreign Minister Minister Asaad al-Shaibani during a joint press conference after their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 08 October 2025. (EPA)
Turkish Foreign Minister Minister Hakan Fidan (R) shakes hands with Syrian Foreign Minister Minister Asaad al-Shaibani during a joint press conference after their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 08 October 2025. (EPA)
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Turkish FM Says Sides Are Close to a Gaza Ceasefire Agreement

Turkish Foreign Minister Minister Hakan Fidan (R) shakes hands with Syrian Foreign Minister Minister Asaad al-Shaibani during a joint press conference after their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 08 October 2025. (EPA)
Turkish Foreign Minister Minister Hakan Fidan (R) shakes hands with Syrian Foreign Minister Minister Asaad al-Shaibani during a joint press conference after their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 08 October 2025. (EPA)

Talks on bringing an end to the war in Gaza are on the verge of reaching a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Wednesday.

Turkish, Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators are working to realize an American plan that calls for an immediate ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

“If an agreement is reached today, a ceasefire will be declared,” Fidan told a news conference in Ankara with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani.

Fidan earlier said that “a lot of progress has been achieved so far” in the negotiations. “What is good news is that the parties have showed great will for the release of the prisoners and the hostages,” he added.

All sides have expressed optimism for a deal to end the two-year war that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and most of Gaza destroyed. But key parts of the peace plan still haven’t been agreed, including a requirement that Hamas disarm, the timing and extent of an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, and the creation of an international body to run the territory after Hamas steps down.

Fidan told reporters that technical details were “being discussed at the moment,” adding that “if the positive views are heard today, the necessary steps will be taken for the first part of the agreement.”

The two ministers also discussed security in Syria — an issue that neighboring Türkiye takes a keen interest in.

Al-Shaibani criticized the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, for delaying the implementation of an agreement made in March for them to integrate into Syria’s new military. The SDF has recently clashed with security forces around the northern city of Aleppo.

“The SDF has taken it very slowly in making the right steps,” he said. “Any delay in terms of implementing this agreement will only serve for further losses and we will have huge trouble in fighting terrorism.”

Both al-Shaibani and Fidan attacked Israel’s involvement in Syria, with the Syrian minister saying Israel’s “aggression still jeopardizes our safety and security.”

Tensions soared between Israel and Syria following the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, when Israeli forces seized control of the UN-patrolled buffer zone in Syria set up under the 1974 agreement and carried out airstrikes. Al-Shaibani on Wednesday reiterated Syrian calls to return to the 1974 boundaries.

Israel stepped up its intervention when violence erupted in Syria’s Sweida province in July between Bedouin clans and government forces on one side and armed groups from the Druze minority on the other.


Report: Rubio to Attend Paris Meeting on Gaza Transition

 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as President Donald Trump meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 7, 2025. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as President Donald Trump meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 7, 2025. (AFP)
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Report: Rubio to Attend Paris Meeting on Gaza Transition

 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as President Donald Trump meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 7, 2025. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as President Donald Trump meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 7, 2025. (AFP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to attend a ministerial meeting to be held on Thursday in Paris with European, Arab and other states to discuss Gaza's post-war transition, three diplomatic sources said on Wednesday.

The meeting, to be held in parallel with indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in Egypt on US President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, is intended to discuss how the plan would be implemented and assess countries' collective commitments to the process.

According to a note sent to delegates, the meeting will follow up a conference on a "two-state solution" at the United Nations and is intended to agree on joint actions to make a contribution to the US plan for Gaza. The two-state solution would involve an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Countries attending on Thursday will include France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Türkiye and Canada.

The note had said Washington's participation would depend on advances in the negotiations in Egypt.

A European diplomatic source said it was vital to have the United States present. An Italian diplomatic source underlined the importance of supporting Trump's plan, which was "the only one possible".

A French diplomatic source said the United States and Israel had been kept up to date with plans for the meeting and the agenda would include humanitarian aid for Gaza and the enclave's reconstruction, disarmament of Hamas and support for the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian security forces.

The US Embassy in Paris was not immediately available for comment.


Israel’s Ben-Gvir Calls for ‘Gaza Victory’ at Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound 

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in the Old City of Jerusalem, in this screengrab from a video obtained by Reuters on October 8, 2025. (Jewish Power/Handout via Reuters) 
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in the Old City of Jerusalem, in this screengrab from a video obtained by Reuters on October 8, 2025. (Jewish Power/Handout via Reuters) 
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Israel’s Ben-Gvir Calls for ‘Gaza Victory’ at Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound 

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in the Old City of Jerusalem, in this screengrab from a video obtained by Reuters on October 8, 2025. (Jewish Power/Handout via Reuters) 
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in the Old City of Jerusalem, in this screengrab from a video obtained by Reuters on October 8, 2025. (Jewish Power/Handout via Reuters) 

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Wednesday and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pursue "complete victory" over Hamas in Gaza.

In a video on the edge of one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East, Ben-Gvir said that two years after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war, Israel was "winning" at the Jerusalem compound known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

"Every house in Gaza has a picture of the Temple Mount, and today, two years later, we are winning on the Temple Mount. We are the owners of the Temple Mount," Ben-Gvir said in the video released by his Jewish Power party.

"I only pray that our prime minister will allow a complete victory in Gaza as well – to destroy Hamas, with God's help we will return the hostages, and we will win a complete victory," Ben-Gvir said.

His remarks were released as Israel and Palestinian group Hamas are deep in indirect negotiations in Egypt to release all remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza and end the war there.

Ben-Gvir, known as a hardliner well before he helped Netanyahu form the most right-wing coalition government in Israel's history, heads the pro-settler, nationalist-religious Jewish Power party. He has previously threatened to quit Netanyahu's government unless Hamas is utterly destroyed.

The Al-Aqsa compound, in Jerusalem's walled Old City, is Islam's third holiest site and the most sacred in Judaism. Under a delicate decades-old "status quo" arrangement with Muslim authorities, the Al-Aqsa compound is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and Jews can visit but may not pray there.

Ben-Gvir has previously challenged those rules, prompting Netanyahu to issue statements saying Israel was committed to the status quo there.

Suggestions that Israel would alter rules at the Al-Aqsa compound have sparked outrage in the Muslim world and ignited violence in the past.