US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is making another visit to the Middle East – his fifth trip to the region since 7 October
His visit comes after the US said it carried out more strikes against Houthi missiles in Yemen on Sunday
The military said it had struck a land-attack cruise missile and four anti-ship missiles that “were prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea”
That development followed joint US-UK strikes on Houthi targets – which the UK says were intended to stop the Houthis’ attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea
It follows continued attacks by the Iran-backed group in the Red Sea on military and commercial ships which it says are linked to Israel
The US also says it is planning more strikes on Iran-linked targets, in response to the drone attack in Jordan which killed three US troops more than a week ago
But Iran says the accusations it was involved are “baseless”. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an Iran-backed militia, claimed responsibility
