Iran-US war latest: Trump claims Houthis asked US not to intervene in Yemen as drone hits Saudi Arabia oil pipeline

Donald Trump said on Saturday that Yemens Houthi rebels asked the United States not to intervene in their spiralling conflict with Saudi Arabia amid growing concerns about the impact on the global oil supply.

The US president played down concerns about the threat to his ally in Riyadh after the Iran-backed group this week launched a lightning offensive west to threaten Saudi traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

"They would much prefer not having us involved, and they're letting most ships go through,” he said of the Houthis. “There's just one country that they're not too happy with, and we'll get that straightened out.”

Trump said that he had spoken with allied Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman about the matter. The de facto ruler had reportedly called Trump to ask for help from the US military last week.

Riyadh was also forced to shut down its East-West pipeline after the vital oil conduit came under aerial attack in the widening Middle East war, threatening to send energy prices even higher.

The world’s largest crude oil exporter temporarily closed the pipeline after a drone attack that both Baghdad and Riyadh said had originated in Iraq, where Iranian-backed militias operate.

Trump told reporters on Saturday that Iran was “probably” behind the attack, without providing evidence. The US president said that the situation “would work out just fine”.

Counter-terrorism officers in London have arrested a man and a woman suspected of aiding the foreign intelligence service of Iran. According to the Metropolitan Police, the 60-year-old man and 42-year-old woman were taken into custody after properties in north and north-west London were searched on 24 June.

Following their detention under the National Security Act (NSA), officers conducted a further search at a third address in north-west London on 9 September.

Iraqi prime minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi has agreed to an Iranian request for a joint investigation into the discovery of drone launch platforms near the Iraqi-Iranian border, the prime minister's office said on Saturday. The investigation will examine the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the platforms near the border area, the statement said, after it was used to launch attacks on the Saudi Arabia East-West pipeline.

The capture of the Red Sea port of Mokha and a strategic island by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen brings their forces to the heart of a key choke point for the global economy: the Bab el-Mandeb Strait leading out of the Red Sea. The Houthis took Mokha on Thursday and on Friday captured Mayun, also known as Perim, off Yemen's coast, two officials said, in a swift advance that extends their reach near one of the world’s key commercial lanes.

Iraq’s government was racing Saturday to contain the fallout after local Iran-backed militias were accused of attacking and shuttering a key Saudi pipeline. Iraq's government confirmed the attacks had originated from its territory, pledged to investigate and dismissed a military commander.

Hamas planned to carry out terror attacks in European capitals last year to mark the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks in Israel, according to an indictment filed by Germany’s federal prosecutor. The Palestinian group reportedly intended to carry out attacks on Israeli and Jewish ‘interests’ in Berlin and Vienna around October 7 2025, according to the indictment, as seen by German broadsheet Die Welt.

Donald Trump repeated on Saturday that he believed the war with Iran will end after US midterm elections in November and that oil prices will tumble once it does. "I think very soon. I think it'll be probably right after the mid-terms. They're trying to hold out as long as they can to complicate the election. But I think people are wise to it," Trump told reporters in Dublin.

Lebanon’s president made a rare visit to a southern city Saturday, close to where Israel captured a strategic hill, amid fears of more Israeli attacks. President Joseph Aoun’s visit to Nabatiyeh came after Israel seized parts of Ali Taher ridge earlier this month, where Israeli officials said they had blown up Hezbollah tunnel networks, despite a June ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group.