Houthi rebels enter Middle East conflict with missile strike while 12 US troops 'seriously injured' in Saudi base attack
The Iranian-backed military group had previously said they were ready for “direct military intervention” if any new parties joined the US and Israel in the war
Yemen's Houthis officially entered the conflict in the Middle East after it launched a missile at Israel overnight – the first fired from Yemen since the war began.
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The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The Houthis - who control much of Yemen - warned earlier in the week that they may get involved in the war if attacks continued on Iran.
On Friday, they said they had their “fingers on the trigger” and were ready for “direct military intervention” if any new parties joined the US and Israel in the war.
Brigadier-General Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Iranian-baked Houthis, claimed responsibility for the missile in a statement aired on Saturday morning by the rebels’ Al-Masirah satellite television.
Read more: Trump gives Iran until April 6 to open Strait of Hormuz and insists peace talks going 'very well'
The group says it fired a barrage of ballistic missiles "targeting sensitive Israeli military sites" in response to the targeting of in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and Palestinian territories.
It added that its operations will continue until the "aggression" on all fronts ends.
It follows an attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, which left 12 US service members injured.
Two of the personnel are said to be "very seriously injured" following the attack by Iranian drones.
The other eight are reported to be "seriously injured" - a different category of injury under the military's classification system.
The strike is said to have also damaged several US refuelling aircrafts, according to American and Saudi officials on the ground.
Some 13 American service members have been killed in action as part of the US war with Iran which started last month, with a further 300 wounded.
In Lebanon, two Israeli soldiers have been seriously injured in clashes in the southern region.
The IDF said a combat officer was seriously injured and six other soldiers were moderately hurt in rocket fire on Friday.
In a separate clash, it said another officer was seriously injured and a second officer was moderately hurt by anti-tank missile fire.
The military says nine soldiers have been injured in southern Lebanon over the past two days.
Meanwhile, speaking at an address in Miami on Friday evening, Trump refused to call the conflict a war for "legal reasons".
President Trump has reportedly been pushing for peace talks to get off the ground this week, and has claimed Iran was negotiating with the US by sending oil out of the Strait of Hormuz.
The shipping route, one of the world's busiest, has been a major point of contention in finding a resolution.
The closure has rocketed the price of oil and gas, and prompted UK inflation to flatline at three per cent last month.
Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative, Trump said: "They were negotiating, which they admitted two days later, and in order to make up for their misstatement, they said we're going to send you eight ships of oil.
“I saw in one of the networks, very strange, there were eight ships of oil coming out of Iran, and then they actually said, we're going to add an extra two. And they added an extra two, so we had 10 ships.
He also added that Iran is "on the run" and added: "For 47 years, Iran has been known as the bully of the Middle East, but they are not the bully any longer."
He also appeared to call it the "Strait of Trump" which was greeted by laughter in the crowd.
Trump said: "We're negotiating now, and be great if we could do something, but they have to open it up.
Trump also refused to call the conflict a war, telling the address: "Of course, they call it a war. I call it a military conflict, but there's a legal reason for that.
"But you get into a war or a military operation or conflict for you."
It comes hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington's aims can be achieved "without troops on the ground," telling reporters the war could end sooner rather than later.
"We have objectives and we are very confident we are on the verge of achieving them," he said.
"We can achieve all of our objectives without our ground troops," Rubio continued.
"But we are always going to be prepared to give the president maximum optionality and maximum opportunity to adjust to contingencies, should they emerge."
It comes on the same evening Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi hit out after Israel reportedly attacked two of the country’s largest steel factories and nuclear sites.“
Writing on social media, Araghchi said: "Israel has hit 2 of Iran’s largest steel factories, a power plant, and civilian nuclear sites, among other infrastructure. Israel claims it acted in coordination with the US."
Tehran has rejected suggestions from the US that peace talks are ongoing.
Speaking about the Iran war at an event in Miami earlier on Friday, Steve Witkoff said: "We think there will be meetings this week. We're certainly hopeful for it."
His comments come just hours after Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he believes the US could escalate its war in the coming days.
"I have reasons to believe, also based on information we’ve received from our allies, that stabilisation is unlikely in the coming days,” he said.
"On the contrary, a new escalation may occur."