'Serious damage' to Iran's nuclear abilities needed to end conflict
Uri Dromi, founding director general of the Jerusalem Press Club, says Israel has no intention of ending the conflict with Iran until they reach a specific goal.
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‘Serious' consequences if Iran's Bushehr site attacked, UN says
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Iran's dual nationals caught between Israeli bombs and family ties
Iranian-US dual nationals have taken long trips to leave Iran since the conflict began, but others have decided to stay. Tehran, Iran – Suitcases are rolling through Tehran, but this time, it's not for holidays or family celebrations. They are being packed in haste and out of fear – symbols of the growing anxiety gripping the Iranian capital's 10 million residents as they face Israeli missiles. While Iranians scramble to find shelter, dual Iranian-American nationals find themselves caught in the crossfire of war and geopolitical uncertainty. Amir, a 36-year-old Tesla engineer and dual national, travelled to Tehran from the United States just weeks before Israeli air strikes began hitting targets across Iran. He had been visiting family and spending quiet days with them on Mount Damavand, located roughly 60 kilometres northeast of the capital. His return flight to the US was already booked, but a few days before he was scheduled to travel, Israel launched its attacks. When the bombs started to fall, Amir found himself gripped by fear, not just of war, but of being drafted and becoming a casualty of politics beyond his control. 'I wasn't scared at first. Being with my family brought me peace,' said Amir, who preferred not to share his last name for security reasons. He recalled how he had actually been more worried about his family's safety during the 2022 Iran antigovernment protests, watching from afar in the US. 'Back then, I was constantly anxious, glued to the news, worrying about my family. But now, being in Tehran and Damavand, I could see that life was still going on,' he said. But he soon decided it was too risky to remain in Iran. A US Green Card holder, Amir dreaded the growing possibility of President Donald Trump reintroducing a travel ban on Iranians and feared it would include those with permanent residency, like himself. With a sense of urgency, Amir chose to leave. Advertisement Crossing borders, leaving loved ones Fearing for his life and his future, Amir began a long overland journey. On Monday, he left by overnight bus for the western Iranian city of Urmia, an 11-hour journey. From there, he continued by road to Van, in eastern Turkiye, which took another six hours. He then boarded a domestic flight to Ankara, from where he flew to the US on Thursday. Sign up for Al Jazeera Breaking News Alert Get real-time breaking news alerts and stay up-to-date with the most important headlines from around the globe. Subscribe Your subscription failed. Please try again. Please check your email to confirm your subscription By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy protected by reCAPTCHA For Amir, fleeing wasn't just a logistical challenge; it was emotionally traumatic. 'If it weren't for the fear of being conscripted and the possibility of a new Trump-era travel ban, I would have stayed close to my loved ones,' he said. 'It's harder in the US.' Behrouz, a 41-year-old postdoctoral researcher based in San Francisco, faced a similar choice. He had been visiting his hometown of Mashhad, in northeastern Iran, when it was struck by one of Israel's longest-range missile attacks. 'I tried to stay calm for the first two days,' he recalled. 'But then, I had to face the reality: this conflict is nothing like the past. At least for the coming months, the sky won't be clear or open.' Traditionally, Behrouz would end his trips to Iran with a walk through the courtyard of the Imam Reza Holy Shrine, picking up saffron and sweets for colleagues back in the US. But this time, he left in a rush. The journey was long: 10 hours by car to Tehran, another nine to Urmia, and then across the Razi border crossing into Turkiye. 'It took about 20 minutes to get through the checkpoint,' he said, but what followed was a gruelling 22-hour bus ride to Istanbul. Behrouz explained he had to leave because of his job. 'But my heart is still there with my family, and with the people,' he said, his voice breaking. 'We are against both Israel and the Iranian regime,' he added. 'We are millions of ordinary Iranians caught in the middle of decisions made by politicians who don't represent us.' Behrouz's words echo the quiet desperation of many others. Azerbaijani media reported that about 600 Iranian-American dual nationals had crossed out of northwestern Iran via the Astara border into southern Azerbaijan with support from the US embassy. Online, travel coordination flourished in Iranian-American Facebook groups. One user asked: 'My flight was scheduled for late June. Should I try to exit through Armenia or Turkiye?' Another advised: 'Bring extra fuel. Gas stations are limiting purchases to 10 litres per car.' Some even pooled resources to rent a van for the journey to the Turkish border. Advertisement For those managing to leave, the logistics are complex – but often less painful than the emotional burden. Staying behind – and getting cut off Not everyone is leaving. Afsaneh, a 43-year-old lifestyle blogger and mother who lives in northern California, had flown to Iran with her seven-year-old daughter before the war began. Despite US State Department warnings urging citizens to leave, she wrote on Instagram that she had no intention of returning – at least for now. 'This is where I want to be,' she wrote in a recent post. 'With my family, during this time.' Others have had no choice but to watch from afar as their loved ones live through the strikes. Maryam Mortazavi, a 38-year-old Iranian-Canadian living in Toronto, had sent her parents and sister on a summer trip to Iran just two weeks before the air strikes began. Ten days into their stay, bombs hit the northwestern city of Tabriz near their residence. 'I was on a blurry video call with them, hearing explosions and air defence systems,' Mortazavi said. Her family fled to nearby Urmia for safety. By Wednesday afternoon, the Iranian government had shut down internet access. Maryam lost all contact with them. 'I can't even get out of bed – I'm so worried,' she said, breaking down. 'I just hope they find a working VPN and reach me.' This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.
Al Jazeera
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Yemen's Houthis mull how they can help ally Iran against Israel
Houthis agreed deal with US last month, but may resume attacks if US strikes Iran. As the war between Israel and Iran continues, Yemen's Houthi rebels say they are coordinating with Tehran. The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, have since 2023 launched attacks on Israel and shipping in the Red Sea in what they say is support for Palestinians in Gaza. The Houthis are also a close ally of Iran, and now they say that their latest attacks are on behalf of the 'Palestinian and Iranian peoples', according to the Telegram account of Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree, who added that the Yemeni group were coordinating with 'the operations carried out by the Iranian army against the criminal Israeli enemy'. On Sunday, two days after Israel first attacked Iran in the early hours of June 13, the Houthis announced that they had targeted Israel. In a televised address, Saree said the group fired several ballistic missiles at Jaffa. The Houthis are timing their attacks with the Iranians, according to Hussain Albukhaiti, a pro-Houthi political commentator. The Houthis are launching missiles 'after Iran launched its missiles', Albukhaiti told Al Jazeera. 'This way the Zionist settlers [Israelis] keep going back and forth to their shelters so they can live a small fraction of the fear they caused the Palestinian people in Gaza.' The Houthi attacks are essentially a continuation of their previous periodic missile and drone attacks on Israel. The Israelis have mostly been able to intercept the attacks but some have gotten through, most notably an attack in early May on Ben Gurion airport that injured six people and led to a suspension of flights. Advertisement But the Houthi attacks have also had another consequence for Israeli defences, according to Yemen expert Nicholas Brumfield. 'The constant threat of Houthi attacks coming from the south requires Israel to spread out its air defences rather than positioning them all to more effectively [defend] counterattacks coming from Iran,' he told Al Jazeera. Sign up for Al Jazeera Breaking News Alert Get real-time breaking news alerts and stay up-to-date with the most important headlines from around the globe. Subscribe Your subscription failed. Please try again. Please check your email to confirm your subscription By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy protected by reCAPTCHA Shipping routes In November 2023, the Houthis began attacking ships they say were linked to Israel in the Red Sea. International ships that travel to the Red Sea are forced to pass Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. The attacks have ceased in recent months, particularly after the Houthis and the United States came to an agreement to stop attacking each other in early May, following a US bombing campaign that is reported to have killed more than 200 people in Yemen. But the attacks could still resume, and the Houthis never agreed to stop targeting Israel, which itself has also continued to bomb Yemen. 'We had an agreement with the US to stop attacking each other, but Yemen will not obey this agreement if the US joins the Zionists in their attacks against Iran,' Albukhaiti said. 'We remember that Trump cancelled the nuclear deal between Iran and the US,' he said, referring to the US president's unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal between Iran and several Western countries in 2018. Albukhaiti accused Trump of cancelling the deal because it was not in Israel's interest. 'Yemen will do the same, and will cancel the agreement with the US, because it's not in the interest of Iran, which is an important ally of Yemen,' he said, referring to the Houthi rebel group as 'Yemen', although the group's government is not recognised internationally. Iran has also threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between it and Oman. About 20 million barrels per day (BPD), or the equivalent of about 20 percent of global petroleum liquids consumed, pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Analysts said the Houthis could potentially do the same in the Red Sea. Sea mines are 'very low-tech, easy-to-make mines that would nevertheless introduce considerable uncertainty for global shippers,' Brumfield said. 'I don't think that Iran or Yemen will hesitate to use sea mines if necessary to block the entire shipping lines in our region,' Albukhaiti added. Risks to Gulf states There are also fears that the conflict could drag in other countries in the region. The US has bases in a number of countries in the Middle East, and the Houthis have previously been involved in fighting with many of them, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Advertisement If the current conflict spirals, Gulf countries may find themselves threatened by Houthi attacks. 'The Houthis are trying to recover from the US strikes we saw between mid-March and May, and probably aren't begging to restart those more intensive strikes if they don't have to,' Brumfield said. 'But I also think they'd be amenable to restarting them if they saw themselves as participating in a grand regional war between the US-Israel and the Axis of Resistance, especially if a lot of US military resources are diverted to Iran.' Albukhaiti said Houthi forces 'could also target US bases in the region', specifically those involved in the coalition against Yemen, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, because 'we are still at war with these countries', he said. The Saudi-led coalition intervened militarily in the war in Yemen between the Houthis and the country's internationally recognised government in 2015, unleashing a years-long campaign of air strikes. Saudi Arabia ceased hostilities in Yemen in 2022, but has yet to officially reach a deal with the Houthis. And before that, it had come under Houthi attack. In 2019, Saudi oil production was cut by around 50 percent after Houthi drone strikes on oil plants. Since then, analysts say the Saudis have worked hard to keep more stable relations with the Houthis in order to avoid further attacks. But despite these efforts, the detente could be forgotten if the Houthis see fit to resume hitting their northern neighbour. 'I don't think [attacks on Saudi Arabia are] off the table,' Brumfield said. 'If elements in Houthi leadership in favour of a military-first approach win out, it's plausible they would attack the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] as part of a general escalation in both the regional and Yemen conflict.' Brumfield added that the Houthis would, however, have to also keep in mind that Saudi Arabia has provided 'diplomatic cover' for the Houthis in the past few years, as it seeks to find a final deal to end the conflict in Yemen. Any attacks from the Houthis would likely make Saudi Arabia abandon that strategy. Internal strife Anti-Houthi groups in Yemen have been watching events carefully over the past few months, as they sense an opportunity with the initial US campaign against the Houthis, and now the weakening of the Houthis' principal ally, Iran. 'The most [the Houthis are] capable of doing is continuing symbolic attacks on Israel or potentially restarting activity in the Red Sea,' Raiman Al-Hamdani, an independent Yemen analyst, told Al Jazeera. 'But doing so could provoke a renewed military response from the US, Israel, and the UK, which might weaken their position domestically and open space for anti-Houthi groups to exploit any resulting instability.' However, analysts say that few of the groups that oppose the Houthis, including the Yemeni government, are in a position to take and effectively govern territory from the Houthis. And, should those groups mobilise, the Houthis would likely respond, Albukhaiti said. Advertisement Houthi forces could target any domestic opponents through 'oil and gas fields and platforms' as well as the 'airports and water distillation plants' of the countries he said backed the groups, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
