Saturday, March 28, 2026

Houthis enter the Iran war (full article)

begin quote from CBS News: 

Live Updates: Houthis enter the Iran war, Strait of Hormuz still locked down as Trump pushes for deal

What to know about the Iran war today:

  • Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claimed a missile launch toward Israel early Saturday, their first since the war started. The involvement of the Yemen-based rebels could further complicate the war.  
  • The Trump administration is awaiting Iran's formal response to its 15-point peace proposal, after President Trump again extended his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. With no sign of Tehran easing its blockade of the strait, oil prices were back up and stock values fell.
  • An Iranian strike on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia wounded 10 U.S. service members, multiple U.S. officials told CBS News.
  • U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israel's attacks in Lebanon against Hezbollah have intensified, and both continue retaliating with strikes on Israeli civilians and America's Gulf allies, despite Mr. Trump's insistence that Tehran's missile capacity has been reduced by 90%.
  • Cyber criminals linked to Iran have accessed FBI Director Kash Patel's personal email account, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.  
 

At CPAC, many Republicans stand by Trump on Iran. But they're divided on how the war could end.

As Republicans grapple with a war in Iran during a tight midterm cycle, speakers and attendees at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference are toeing a fine line between backing the Trump administration's war effort and hinting at worries about the conflict expanding.

To be sure, most members of President Trump's party firmly support the war. Some 84% of Republicans approved of the U.S. taking military action against Iran in a CBS News poll released last weekend. Support falls somewhat, to 70%, among non-MAGA Republicans.

But some Trump supporters have expressed hesitation about a conflict with Iran or concerns about its scope — and many are broadly wary of the U.S. intervening abroad.

The debate is playing out during an election year, as Americans' views on the war — and on its impacts on energy prices — could influence who wins control of Congress. The most recent CBS News poll found that 69% of independents are opposed to U.S. military action in Iran.

Read more here.

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2 journalists killed in Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon

Two journalists were killed in an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon, officials said, including one who worked for Hezbollah's al-Manar TV.

The television station said its correspondent, Ali Shoeib, a well-known war correspondent in Lebanon, was killed Saturday in a strike. Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen said its reporter, Fatima Ftouni, was killed in the same strike.

Ftouni had just finished a live report from southern Lebanon just before the strike in the Jezzine area.

Israeli military claimed that Shoeib was a "terrorist in the intelligence unit of Hezbollah's Radwan Force" who operated "under the guise of a journalist… while operating systematically to expose the locations of IDF soldiers operating in southern Lebanon and along the border."

Additionally, the military claimed Shoeib used his position at al-Manar TV to "disseminate Hezbollah propaganda materials."

The strike came days after an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut killed Mohammed Sherri, the head of political programs at al-Manar TV, along with his wife.

According to AFP, Lebanon's president, Joseph Aoun, condemned Israel's strike, saying: "This is a blatant crime that violates all the norms and treaties under which journalists enjoy international protection in wars."

CBS/AP

 

USS Gerald R. Ford docks in Croatia for repairs

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, has anchored in Croatia on its route to the Middle East for repairs and to give sailors "some well-deserved liberty."

The U.S. 6th Fleet said the aircraft carrier anchored in the Port of Split in Croatia following its Adriatic Sea transit from Souda Bay, in Greece, where it conducted repairs and refueled earlier this week.

CROATIA-IRAN-ISRAEL-US-WAR
The world's largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, that has been part of Middle East war operations, arrives in the Croatian coastal city of Split for a scheduled port visit and maintenance stop on March 28, 2026. ELVIS BARUKCIC /AFP via Getty Images

This is the aircraft carrier's second visit to Croatia during its ongoing deployment. It anchored in for a few days in October 2025.

"The crew is excited to be back in Split for some well-deserved liberty," Capt. David Skarosi, commanding officer of Gerald R. Ford, said in a statement. "They have accomplished so much since our initial visit in October. We are extremely thankful to the Croatian community for opening their historic and beautiful city of Split to us once again."

The carrier docked last month at the American naval base at Souda Bay, stirring up protests on Crete ahead of the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that triggered the war. There, it also brought in experts to repair the damage from a fire in the ship's laundry facilities, and military and federal law enforcement to investigate the fire.

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Here's what needs to happen before oil starts flowing through the Strait of Hormuz again

Some shipping and insurance experts don't expect the situation in the Strait of Hormuz to return to normal until the war winds down significantly.

Since the start of the conflict, Iran has threatened to hit ships that travel through the strait without its permission. More than a dozen Iranian drone and missile strikes have been reported on ships in the region, and daily transits through the waterway have fallen some 90% to 95% since the conflict began, according to shipping intelligence firm Kpler. Hundreds of tankers are trapped in the Persian Gulf. The cost of marine insurance in the Strait has also skyrocketed. Trump administration officials have discussed offering military escorts, but it's not clear when or how that might work.

Emirates Iran War
Fishing boats dot the sea as cargo ships, in the background, sail through the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz off the United Arab Emirates, on March 27, 2026. AP

With the end of the war uncertain, when will the logjam clear?

Put simply: "You need to not have fast-moving pointy bits of metal with explosives bearing down onto you at 2,000 miles an hour," said Daniel Sternoff, an analyst at Energy Aspects and senior fellow at Columbia's Center on Global Energy Policy.

Read more here. 

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Iran's military says it targeted Ukrainian anti-drone system depot in UAE

Iran's military said on Saturday that it targeted a Ukrainian anti-drone system depot in the United Arab Emirates that it said was being used to assist the United States.

"As the hideouts of American commanders and soldiers in Dubai were targeted... a Ukrainian anti-drone system depot that was located in Dubai to assist the US military ... was targeted and destroyed," Iran's military central operational command Khatam Al-Anbiya said in a statement carried by state TV.

The strike came the same day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an unexpected visit to the UAE. During the trip, he met with his Emirati counterpart, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to discuss regional security in the Middle East.

"For Ukraine, this is also a matter of principle: terror must not prevail anywhere in the world. Protection must be sufficient everywhere," Zelenskyy said in a post on X following his meeting with the Emirati leader. He said they had discussed "the security situation in the Emirates, Iranian strikes, and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which directly affects the global oil market."

The Emirates News Agency said the two leaders discussed "security developments in the region amid ongoing military escalation and their implications for regional and international peace and security, as well as their impact on international navigation and the global economy."

Zelenskyy said last week that Kyiv is helping five countries in the Middle East and Gulf region —

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