Trump reportedly called off strikes on Yemen's Houthis

Houthi fighters pushed to seize strategic heights in Yemen to cut off the Red Sea coast from remaining areas held by Saudi-backed forces, following a report that US President Donald Trump had called off US strikes on the group at the last minute.

A lightning advance by the Iran-backed Houthi group this month has extended the wider Middle East conflict to a new theatre and further threatened global energy supplies.

The US has so far rebuffed repeated pleas from Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to join the fight in Yemen.

The Houthis said on Saturday they had fired on Riyadh, where loud booms were followed by columns of smoke visible near the airport.

Saudi Arabia has not commented on the first apparent strikes on the capital since the escalation began.

The New York Times reported that the Trump administration had prepared to launch airstrikes yesterday against the Houthis after fresh pleas from the Saudi crown prince.

But the newspaper said Mr Trump called off the airstrikes at the last minute, even as troops were loading bombs onto aircraft.

The US military's Central Command referred questions to the White House.

The White House did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Mr Trump spoke yesterday to Rashid al-Alimi, president of Yemen's Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government, who asked him for US military help, four sources said.

Two of the sources, one Yemeni and one Western, said Mr Trump made no direct pledge of military support during the call.

US refuses visas for Iranian UN delegation - state media

It comes as the United States refused to issue visas for members of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's delegation, including his communications team, for this week's trip to the UN General Assembly, Iranian state media has reported.

Mr Pezeshkian will be the highest-ranking Iranian official to enter the United States since the Middle East war began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.

"In an unprecedented hostile move by the US government, (US President Donald) Trump has denied US visas to certain members of the president's high-level delegation, including members of his communications team," state news agency IRNA reported.

The Mehr news agency also carried the story, citing a spokesperson for the Iranian presidency, and added that Mr Pezeshkian will address the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.

The US has authorised the Iranian delegation to travel for the UN General Assembly but will, like last year, put restrictions in place.

Iran's delegation will not, for instance, be allowed to purchase luxury goods or other items, the US State Department said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, part of the delegation to the UN, left Iran yesterday evening for a stopover in Qatar.

Iran says it has conveyed to the US, via Qatar as mediator, conditions for reopening the strategic Strait of Hormuz oil and gas shipping route, which it has choked off since the war began.

The United States, in turn, is imposing a counterblockade of Iranian ports.

Iran's Guards threaten to hit new targets if US attacks

Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned they would attack new targets and deploy new weapons if the US launches further attacks on the country.

Almost seven months into their war, Iran and the US remain locked in a stalemate, though neither side appears willing to return to full-scale war.

In a statement, a spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the ideological arm of Iran's military, said "there will certainly be significant changes in our defence and our counteroffensive" in the event of a new US attack.

"We will introduce new weapons with new capabilities into the battlefield, and the world will be surprised," he said.

"Our targets will not necessarily be the same as before either. We have new targets that have not yet been attacked."

The Guards also said they were prepared for a "prolonged war".

On Saturday, the central command of Iran's military said the US was planning new action against Tehran, according to state television, but it did not elaborate.

Fighting between the US and Iran has eased in recent days after a flare-up at the end of last month, though Tehran continues sporadic attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Both sides are maintaining rival blockades in the waterway in an effort to exert pressure.

Two crew were wounded when an "unknown projectile" hit a tanker Monday in the Strait of Hormuz, where vessels have been under fire during the Middle East war, a maritime agency said.

"Military authorities have informed UKMTO that a tanker conducting an inbound transit was struck by an unknown projectile," said the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

"Two crew have sustained minor injuries and the vessel is reported to be continuing to its next port of call under its own power," it added.

British security firm Vanguard Tech said UK-flagged tanker La Stephanie was hit by a drone while sailing towards the Gulf, also reporting minor injuries to two crew members.