US-Iran conflict: Saudi pipeline attack, Yemen crisis add to regional tensions

Iran and Oman have reached an agreement on new entry and exit routes for the Strait of Hormuz, which will be discussed at a regional meeting in Muscat on Monday. The deal, reached after extensive technical and diplomatic talks, has Iran and Oman agreeing that the Gulf's entry route lies within Iran's territorial waters, while a portion of the exit route falls within Iranian waters.

The new route will operate under Iranian arrangements, and the southern route will be closed once the new system is operational. The United States had insisted that the southern route be kept open, but the agreement does not mean the Strait will be opened. Iran has seven conditions for reopening the waterway, which must be implemented for the waterway to reopen.

In Yemen, Houthi fighters have attacked a Saudi military base with drones and missiles, targeting weapons depots and command centers. This comes amid increased clashes between the Iran-allied Houthis and Yemeni government forces, supported by Saudi Arabia. About 1,400 people have fled the fighting to Djibouti, where they have arrived in just 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Somali pirates briefly hijacked a vessel off the coast of Yemen, boarding the MT Glamour with six armed men. The crew stopped the vessel, and a Japanese warship intervened, causing the pirates to abandon the hijacked ship. Four tankers seized this year remain under the control of pirates off the Somali coast, with the Seamull, part of Iran's ghost fleet accused of exporting Iranian oil, subject to US sanctions.