The Iran-backed Houthis have seized on a vulnerable moment for Saudi Arabia, which is reluctant to enter another war, to try to force political concessions in Yemen.

We're bombing a country to keep them from getting a nuclear weapon, but we're signing a deal with another country,” said the Republican Senator.

Republican Senator John Kennedy said he's not comfortable with Trump's Saudi nuclear agreement, adding to scrutiny of the deal.

A merican and Saudi forces struck sites used by Iran-backed militias in Iraq to carry out attacks in recent days, the U.S. military said Tuesday (July 28, 2026). Also Read | Have the Houthis blocked the Red Sea to marine traffic? Explained

The deal has elicited criticism over its potential to fuel an arms race in the Middle East.

Saudi authorities executed five Ethiopian migrants for nonlethal drug-related offenses on July 27, 2026 without due process.

President Donald Trump has approved a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that could lead to the kingdom enriching its own fuel for civilian reactors without adopting the “gold standard” of international oversight,

With their ally, Iran, bottling up the Strait of Hormuz, the Houthi group in Yemen is escalating its declared blockade of Saudi shipping in another vital waterway, the Red Sea.