Iran War Day 161: Houthis Attacks Yemen Government Forces

Iran and Oman still appeared to be nearing a deal to mutually govern the Strait of Hormuz as the Iran War entered its 161st day on Friday.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that a deal to re-open the Strait had not been finalized but that the waterway is “sort of open right now.” But Kpler’s shipping tracker recorded only eight confirmed transits of the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, down 33 percent from the day before. That data was reported around 7 AM U.S. Eastern Time or 2:30 PM in Iran.

Hassan Ghashghavi, a spokesperson for Iran’s parliament committee on national security, said Friday that a framework deal with Oman regarding the Strait of Hormuz has been agreed upon, adding that the text and details would soon be made public.

At least 38 members of Yemen’s government forces were killed in drone and missile attacks by the Iran-backed Yemeni Houthis on Thursday, according to Agence France-Presse. A Houthi spokesman claimed credit for the strikes and said that they came in response to the Yemeni government’s “Saudi-backed military buildup.” More Houthi strikes on Friday raised the death toll of Yemen’s government forces to more than 60 killed in two days.

The governments of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan signed a defense pact on Friday, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir traveling to Mecca for the signing ceremony. A source briefed on the agreement told the Financial Times it is “a prelude to more Saudi military action against the Houthis.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Friday said that “our objective” in the Iran War “should be regime collapse,” urging the Trump administration to foment civil unrest. “What I believe we should do, what I have urged President Trump repeatedly, what I’ve urged Israel to do repeatedly, is arm the protesters, give them the guns, to let them overthrow their own government,” Cruz told CBS News. Trump told reporters in April, “We sent guns, a lot of guns” to Iranians, claiming that “the people that they sent them to kept them.”

The closure of Hormuz to Gulf processing — as well as Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries — have cut global refining capacity, keeping fuel prices elevated even as crude futures prices fall, according to the Financial Times. The price of Brent Crude oil was over $82 on Friday morning. AAA recorded the national average price of regular gas at $4.04.