Houthis

Brent crude prices went up $1.62 Friday to sit at $120.65 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude went up $1.56 to sit at $113.90.

"There is an escalation by the countries of aggression against our country, under clear directives from America," Ansar Allah's deputy information secretary told Newsweek.

"America is complicit in ... this horrific war that Biden and his senior officials once promised to end," one national security reporter wrote. "I hope they see these children when they sleep at night."

A paradigm shift for the Iran nuclear deal negotiators in Vienna would allow natural regional issues to come to the fore.

The Biden administration criticized Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels after they refused to meet with U.N. special envoy Martin Griffiths.

Murphy was headed this week to Oman, Qatar and Jordan to discuss political solutions to the war in Yemen.

There must also be a structured, incentivized approach to deescalating the conflict, based not on mere good will (which seldom works with terror groups), but on a stick-and-carrot approach.

The new ceasefire deal could, if accepted, end almost six years of war that has killed more than 233,000 people.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia as the White House pushes for a diplomatic solution.

It is time for the Yemeni political elites to take responsibility, stop relying on and blaming the same foreigners for all their ills.

The escalation is background music intended to produce the right mood of American trepidation.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said the attack set a passenger jet on fire and constituted a "war crime."

Biden's moves to empower Iran and its Houthi proxy against the U.S.'s Arab Gulf allies will be very costly to the region and to the U.S.

The Yemeni rebel group used a cruise missile to strike an oil site near the city of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast.

The energy secretary said Iran "could pay a very dear price economically" but added that Trump is "not interested in going to war."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also suggested the U.S. strategy in the Middle East is collapsing.

The White House has been considering how to respond to the weekend's attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure, which both Washington and Riyadh are blaming on Iran.

Retired Admiral William McRaven said the president's team must draw on their expertise to provide Trump with a range of options to respond to the attacks on Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis have claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack, but the U.S. has suggested that Iran is ultimately to blame.

"What if this whole thing goes south?" Kennedy asked during a segment of Fox News Outnumbered on Monday.

The Democratic presidential candidate criticized the president after he said he was "waiting to hear" from Saudi Arabia before acting in regards to the weekend Aramco drone attack.

"There's a vacuum of leadership inside the White House," the former White House communications director said.

"This is why it's so important to have a president who isn't a typical politician," the senior White House counselor said.

"Such [American] comments and measures are more akin to the plots hatched by secret and intelligence services for damaging the image of a state to prepare the ground for a series of [hostile] measures," the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

In Yemen and beyond, these inhumane weapons serve virtually no military purpose and kill indiscriminately.

At least six Yemeni soldiers have been killed and a dozen wounded, according to local reports.

"More than 10,000 displaced households (nearly 80,000 people) have been assisted with food, emergency kits and other life-saving support."

Despite reports that the Saudi-led coalition had seized a crucial port city, a top Iranian official said the Houthis were "witnessing their advances every day."

"The U.S. must stop backing this war and support the UN's effort to get a cease-fire."

Hodeidah is a vital access point for humanitarian and military aid for the Houthi rebels.