The US, Iran and the Middle East

Ship insurers primed to raise rates after Red Sea attacks

LONDON (Reuters) - Insurers are set to raise the cost of providing cover for merchant ships through the Red Sea after a series of incidents that have hit vessels around Saudi Arabian waters, industry sources said.

The possibility of more attacks on commercial shipping carrying oil and commodities through these waterways is growing after the outgoing U.S. administration’s move to designate Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organisation...

Yemen conflict: Al-Qaeda seen at coalition battle for Taiz

The BBC has found evidence in Yemen that troops from a Saudi-led coalition force and al-Qaeda militants are both fighting Houthi rebels in a key battle.

On a visit to the frontline near the city of Taiz, a documentary maker filmed jihadists as well as UAE-supported pro-government militiamen...

During a visit to the frontline outside Taiz late last year, documentary maker Safa AlAhmad spoke to pro-government militiamen attacking Houthi fighters on a key hilltop with the support of troops from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who were providing tactical advice.

While there, Ms AlAhmad was warned by one group participating in the battle not to film them.

She was told they were members of Ansar al-Sharia, an affiliate of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and that they were angered by the presence of a woman.

Ms AlAhmad said it appeared that AQAP - which has exploited the chaos and seized parts of southern Yemen, including the port city of Mukalla - had sent fighters to Taiz to increase the group's influence and spread its message.

Several reports of coalition forces and AQAP militants battling the Houthis in the same areas in southern Yemen have emerged over the past 11 months, despite the jihadists' long-standing violent opposition to governments of coalition-member states, who are allied with the US.

Some have alleged that the Yemeni government is avoiding direct confrontation with AQAP, which in turn has avoided attacks on government targets...

Iranian missiles land within 20 miles of ship, 100 miles from Nimitz strike group in Indian Ocean

Long-range missiles from Iran splashed down close to a commercial ship in the Indian Ocean Saturday and 100 miles from the Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group, Fox News has learned, in the latest example of rising tensions in the region.

U.S. officials say at least one of the missiles landed 20 miles from the commercial vessel but refused to offer more specifics about the ship, citing privacy concerns. The officials requested anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.

Iran tests missiles frequently. Senior U.S. military officials say 100 miles was a long way from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. Another source says these missiles did not cause alarm, and this was a fairly standard routine exercise.

Twenty miles near a commercial vessel is more concerning, but not seen as a threat by the U.S. military, another source said...

White House says Biden will be discussing Iran with foreign partners

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States seeks to lengthen and strengthen the nuclear constraints on Iran through diplomacy and the issue will be part of President Joe Biden’s early talks with foreign counterparts and allies, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

Biden has said that if Tehran resumed strict compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement - under which Iran restrained its nuclear program in return for relief from economic sanctions - Washington would too...

Saudis Expanding US Military Access to Airfields, Port, to Counter Iran

YANBU, SAUDI ARABIA — The U.S. military is expanding its ability to operate from Saudi Arabia in the event of a war with Iran, striking a preliminary arrangement with Riyadh to use various air bases and seaports in the country’s western regions...

This expansion initiative has been underway for at least a year. Its revelation comes as the new Biden administration has vowed to take a more skeptical eye towards the relationship with Saudi Arabia — and to attempt negotiations with Iran for an updated version of the Iran nuclear deal that then-President Trump abandoned in 2018. But it hints at the seriousness with which military leaders at U.S. Central Command, which governs all American troops in the Middle East, takes the possibility of a war with Tehran. And it signals that even as the Biden administration has sought to take a tougher line on Riyadh, U.S.-Saudi ties are deepening at the military level.

McKenzie cautioned that U.S. use of the three Saudi facilities he inspected on Monday — one commercial port and one industrial port in Yanbu and airfields in Tabuk and Taif — were still “highly contingent...”

US B-52 bomber again flies over Mideast amid Iran tensions

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military said Wednesday it again flew a B-52 bomber over the Middle East “to deter potential aggression” amid tensions with Iran, the first such flight under President Joe Biden.

The B-52 flew nonstop from Louisiana’s Barksdale Air Force Base into the region earlier in the day. The plane went over both the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia, according to flight-tracking data...

Israeli military chief warns of new plans to strike Iran

TEL AVIV (AP) — Israel’s military chief Tuesday warned the Biden administration against rejoining the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, even if it toughens its terms, adding he’s ordered his forces to step up preparations for possible offensive action against Iran during the coming year.

The comments by Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi came as Israel and Iran both seek to put pressure on President Joe Biden ahead of his expected announcement on his approach for dealing with the Iranian nuclear program. In Iran, leaders said they would not wait indefinitely for Biden to act...

Kohavi said that given the threat posed by Iran, Israel’s military would be prepared to attack on its own if needed...

Iran says has 2 cascades of 348 advanced centrifuges at Natanz nuclear site

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has now two cascades of advanced centrifuges with almost four times the enrichment capacity of earlier ones running at its Natanz nuclear site, its envoy to the U.N. atomic watchdog said on Tuesday...

Iran's Zarif hints at way to bridge nuclear deal impasse

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested a way on Monday to overcome the U.S.-Iranian impasse over who goes first in returning to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying a top EU official could “synchronize” or “choreograph” the moves.

Zarif’s stance was a shift from his position, expressed in a Jan. 22 article in which he said the United States should remove U.S. sanctions before Iran returned to the deal...

U.S., E3 foreign ministers expected to discuss Iran soon

PARIS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S., British, French and German foreign ministers plan to discuss soon, possibly as early as Friday, how to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal abandoned by former U.S. President Donald Trump, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Four of the sources said the virtual meeting, which was likely to cover other topics, could take place as soon as Friday, while two others said it could happen next week. All spoke on condition that they not be identified.

Such a high-level conversation would be the latest step by U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to seek a way to revive the pact, under which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities so as to make it harder to develop an atomic bomb in return for relief from U.S. and other economic sanctions...

U.S. must lift curbs before Iran rejoins deal: Khamenei cites 'final' stance

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that Tehran’s “final and irreversible” decision was to return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal only if Washington lifts sanctions on the Islamic Republic, Iranian state TV reported...

“Iran has fulfilled all its obligations under the deal, not the United States and the three European countries ... If they want Iran to return to its commitments, the United States must in practice ... lift all sanctions,” state TV quoted Khamenei as saying in a meeting with Air Force commanders.

“Then, after verifying whether all sanctions have been lifted correctly, we will return to full compliance ... It is the irreversible and final decision and all Iranian officials have consensus over it...”