عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Tehran Boosts Support for Houthis by Appointing Ambassador to Sanaa

An Iranian arms shipment destined for the Houthis was confiscated last February (US Navy)
An Iranian arms shipment destined for the Houthis was confiscated last February (US Navy)
TT
TT

Tehran Boosts Support for Houthis by Appointing Ambassador to Sanaa

An Iranian arms shipment destined for the Houthis was confiscated last February (US Navy)
An Iranian arms shipment destined for the Houthis was confiscated last February (US Navy)

Iran has stepped up its political and military support for Houthi coup militias in Yemen by appointing and dispatching a new Iranian ambassador to the insurgency-held capital, Sanaa. This sparked public rage in the war-torn country.

The internationally-recognized government headed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi urged a response against the hostile move by Tehran.

Iran had previously avoided officially recognizing Houthis in Yemen, but changed its policy after Houthis appointed Ibrahim al-Dulaimi as ambassador to Iran in 2019. Tehran accepted the appointment and handed over the keys to the Yemeni embassy to al-Dulaimi.

"Hassan Eyrlou... ambassador for the Islamic Republic of Iran in Yemen, has arrived in Sanaa," foreign ministry spokesman Said Khatibzadeh told the Fars news agency.

"He has presented his letters of credentials to Mehdi al-Mashat, head of Yemen's supreme political council," he added, referring to an executive body formed by Houthi militias.

Fars did not specify when or how the ambassador had reached Sanaa, but the announcement came shortly after more than 1,000 prisoners were freed in a landmark exchange between the warring sides in Yemen.

Well-informed sources based in Sanaa revealed that Eyrlou had arrived to Sanaa onboard an Omani flight that transported 283 injured Houthis who were a part of a deal with Washington on releasing two US citizens captured by Houthi militias.

Yemeni activists accuse the UN of facilitating the transport of Iranian officers and experts to Yemen, where they help embolden a Houthi coup d'etat by providing military support.

Iranian military advisors are responsible for giving Houthis access to explosive-making technologies and providing militants with training sufficient to assemble and operate missiles and drones smuggled from Iran.

Yemeni activists have urged the government to respond to Iran sending Eyrlou to Sanaa, saying that the move violates national sovereignty, plays into Tehran's policy on prolonging the war in Yemen, and violates international laws and resolutions.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Bangkok Floods Force Thousands into Shelters

More than 330 millimeters (13 inches) of rain fell in some areas of Bangkok between Thursday and Sunday, the weather agency said. Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP
More than 330 millimeters (13 inches) of rain fell in some areas of Bangkok between Thursday and Sunday, the weather agency said. Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP
TT
TT

Bangkok Floods Force Thousands into Shelters

More than 330 millimeters (13 inches) of rain fell in some areas of Bangkok between Thursday and Sunday, the weather agency said. Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP
More than 330 millimeters (13 inches) of rain fell in some areas of Bangkok between Thursday and Sunday, the weather agency said. Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP

Thousands of Bangkok residents awoke in shelters on Sunday after flooding triggered by days of heavy rain in the Thai capital inundated homes and roads, with some starting to dry out their homes and belongings.

Nearly 4,900 people have been evacuated to shelters, with around 52,000 households affected by the floods, which prompted a disaster declaration across the capital, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).

More than 330 millimeters (13 inches) of rain fell in some areas of the city between Thursday and Sunday, the weather agency said.

Thailand is used to wet weather, and September is the peak of the rainy season, but several Bangkok residents said this year seemed worse.

"Our house was underwater for about 30 hours," office worker Kosin Nilset, who lives along the Premprachakorn canal on the outskirts of the capital, told AFP on Sunday morning.

"This time, the water level is higher than the 2011 flood," the 44-year-old said.

Widespread deluges across the Southeast Asian country in 2011 killed more than 500 people and damaged millions of homes.

Kosin and his family lifted their belongings once they saw the water level was higher than the canal retaining wall, but their ground floor was still left soaked.

"At least tap water and electricity are working," Kosin said, as he used a broom to sweep out water.

Pedestrians in plastic rain ponchos trudged through murky floodwaters in Bangkok's east -- knee-deep in some areas of a grocery store parking lot -- floating their belongings in plastic tubs alongside them, AFP journalists saw.

- 'Sleeping on the table' -

Water levels in Bangkok's network of canals remained high on Sunday morning, with authorities working to speed up drainage, the BMA said.

More rain was forecast throughout Sunday for Bangkok and its surrounding provinces, but would begin to taper off on Monday, it said.

Scientists warn that the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events will increase as the planet continues to heat up because of fossil fuel emissions.

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said several roads were still flooded and warned Bangkok residents in a Facebook Live post to avoid unnecessary travel.

Chadchart visited a temporary shelter on Saturday night in a school in the Kheha Romklao area, where he said about 1,000 people were evacuated.

Some rested on cots and benches with their dogs in hallways, while others lay with blankets on the floors of classrooms where desks and chairs were pushed to the side.

Hundreds of city schools will be closed on Monday, according to the BMA.

Some convenience stores had empty shelves over the weekend as residents raced to buy essentials.

The prime minister's office asked the public to avoid panic-buying and warned that price gouging was a criminal offence.

Thidarat Silsuwan, 56, lives alone in her partially submerged house along the Premprachakorn canal.

"I have been sleeping on the table for two days now," she told AFP.

She did not want to go to a shelter as she worked to clean up and salvage her belongings.

"I tried to lift everything up, but I gave up on large electric appliances like the refrigerator and washing machine. I guess they are broken."

World

Trump Predicts Cuba and US Will Make a Deal

A classic American car drives along Malecon during a power outage in Havana, Cuba, September 18, 2026. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo
A classic American car drives along Malecon during a power outage in Havana, Cuba, September 18, 2026. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo
TT
TT

Trump Predicts Cuba and US Will Make a Deal

A classic American car drives along Malecon during a power outage in Havana, Cuba, September 18, 2026. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo
A classic American car drives along Malecon during a power outage in Havana, Cuba, September 18, 2026. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo

President Donald Trump predicted on Saturday that the US and Cuba will reach an agreement and that he does not think military action will be necessary.

"I would say that Cuba and us will make a deal. I don't think ⁠we'll need the ⁠military," Trump told reporters at the White House.

The Trump administration has openly stated that its goal is to change Cuba's government. ⁠A US-imposed oil blockade implemented earlier this year has put the country under severe strain as it contends with fuel shortages and blackouts exacerbated by failing infrastructure.

"We want to help Cuba," Trump said before departing for Tennessee, according to Reuters.

"We want to open Cuba ⁠up ⁠to our people."

In an address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump called Cuba a failed state and said "freedom will be coming" to the island nation.

The Cuban delegation walked out of the hall during that speech.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said at the UN later on Saturday ‌that Cuba will always be open for dialogue with the United States. ⁠He ⁠did not reference Trump's comments specifically.

"We are open to commercial and business relationships with US companies, just as we are with any other country," said Rodriguez, while also strongly condemning the US trade embargo on Cuba.

The US has maintained the embargo on Cuba for more than 60 years and the Trump administration has been stepping up pressure after using ​the military in ​January to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

World

‘I Reject their Proposal,’ Says Trump after Iran’s Offer on Hormuz

US President Donald Trump walks out of the South Portico towards members of the press before departing from the new South Lawn helipad in Marine One at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 26 September 2026. EPA/Samuel Corum / POOL
US President Donald Trump walks out of the South Portico towards members of the press before departing from the new South Lawn helipad in Marine One at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 26 September 2026. EPA/Samuel Corum / POOL
TT
TT

‘I Reject their Proposal,’ Says Trump after Iran’s Offer on Hormuz

US President Donald Trump walks out of the South Portico towards members of the press before departing from the new South Lawn helipad in Marine One at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 26 September 2026. EPA/Samuel Corum / POOL
US President Donald Trump walks out of the South Portico towards members of the press before departing from the new South Lawn helipad in Marine One at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 26 September 2026. EPA/Samuel Corum / POOL

US President Donald Trump on Saturday rejected a truce deal proposed by Iran that Tehran said could have reopened the Strait of Hormuz to shipping within a week if Washington met certain conditions.

The waterway is key to the world's energy supply and is now central to the conflict between the US and Iran, which is at a stalemate after nearly seven months.

"I reject their proposal," Trump told reporters outside the White House before leaving for a college football game. "They want to make a deal where they open the Strait immediately because they're losing so badly.

"They want to make a deal and I think that's fine. I like making a deal too," he said.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was on his way back to Tehran after attending the UN General Assembly in New York, told CBS News the proposal had been developed "in coordination" with supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, according to an excerpt from the video interview shared by Iranian media.

Iran's plan calls for a cessation of all hostilities in the Middle East, including in Lebanon, according to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who met earlier in the week with Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff.

He said the conditions were the same as those laid out in a memorandum of understanding signed with the US earlier this year, which called for the release of frozen Iranian assets, the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US naval blockade.

On the seventh day of the truce, Iran would reopen Hormuz. Pezeshkian told CBS that the "process will begin from the very day they accept it."

In New York, Pezeshkian met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to his office, and said: "Iran has not walked away from the negotiating table but, given past experiences, it no longer trusts the United States."

Araghchi said at the UN: "Iran has conveyed to the United States, through Qatar, a concrete seven-day plan. If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, and normal maritime passage restored within seven days."

"The choice now rests with the United States. Iran does not accept coercion, threats or intimidation, and Iran will not surrender its sovereign rights under pressure," he added.

However, within hours of his comments The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was skeptical that Tehran would meet his demands and expects to renew the US bombing campaign.

Trump also posted an image to his Truth Social platform of a map showing the Strait of Hormuz circled and labelled "Trump Strait."

Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying: "We will not cease punishing the US until Iran's seven conditions are met."