Region

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The United States and Iran resumed negotiations on Thursday aimed at clinching a nuclear deal before a March 31 deadline, and officials close to the talks said some kind of preliminary agreement between Tehran and six powers was possible.

As the talks began, Washington and Tehran took opposing stands on Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen against rebels allied to Iran who are fighting to oust the country's president, but it was unclear whether this would affect the nuclear talks.

The two sides are seeking a political framework accord by the end of this month that would lay the foundations for a full deal by June 30.

Under a final settlement, Tehran would halt sensitive nuclear work for at least a decade and in exchange, international sanctions on Iran would be lifted. This would aim to end the country's 12-year nuclear stand-off with the West and reduce the risk of another war in the Middle East.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz met their Iranian counterparts, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Atomic Energy Organisation chief Ali Akbar Salehi, in the Swiss city of Lausanne.

Earlier, Iranian media quoted Zarif as condemning the Saudi-led military operation against the Shiite Muslim Houthi fighters in Yemen, and demanding that it stop.

By contrast, Kerry spoke to the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council members on Thursday and welcomed their decision to take action against the Houthis, a senior US official said.

However, neither Kerry nor Zarif responded when asked by a reporter in Lausanne to comment on the air strikes.

Speaking to reporters travelling with Kerry from Washington on Wednesday, a senior State Department official said the six powers — the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — would not rush to complete a framework agreement with Iran just because there was a March 31 deadline.

But the official said the parties had made progress at last week's inconclusive round of negotiations in Lausanne.

"We very much believe we can get this done by the 31st," the official said. "We see a path to do that." The official added, however, that there was no guarantee of success.

Salehi also said a deal was possible but not certain. "It is difficult to forecast whether we can reach a result at this round of talks but we are moving towards reaching a mutual understanding in all technical issues," he told Iranian state television.

Israel, Saudi Arabia, France and US Congress have all raised concerns that the administration of President Barack Obama might be willing to conclude a deal that would allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapons capability in the future.

The State Department official said: "Any political understanding needs to address in some way all of the elements of a final agreement."

"We do not know what form this will take ... We have always said it needs to have specifics. We will need to communicate as many specifics as possible in some form or fashion [to the public and US Congress]."

Those elements include the different ways to a nuclear weapon, ensuring that it would take Iran at least one year to produce enough high enriched uranium for a single bomb, research and development into advanced centrifuges, transparency measures and monitoring, and sanctions relief for Iran.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, opposes the idea of a two-step process. Iranian officials say they fear a written framework accord would curtail Tehran's negotiating space for the final deal.

Iranian officials have also suggested they could accept some kind of statement or political declaration in Lausanne, as opposed to a formal written agreement.

Officials close to the talks said deep disagreements remained between Tehran and the powers, while divisions had also emerged in recent weeks between the United States and France on what to demand of Tehran. US officials say the six are united.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who last week phoned his negotiation team to tell them to keep a tough line in the talks, will join the talks on Saturday. Other ministers may also arrive at then, officials said.

Iran denies Western allegations it is seeking the capability to procure atomic weapons. But Israel, which is believed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal, has previously threatened Iran with military attack.

With the Republican-led US Congress threatening to vote on new sanctions against Iran if there is no agreement this month, the Obama administration is pushing hard to secure a deal. Obama has vowed to veto any new sanctions moves.

Other officials said some kind of memorandum of understanding that would satisfy US needs for Congress and Khamenei's demands was possible by Sunday.

The main obstacle, Western officials say, remains Iran's refusal to compromise on sanctions, research and development and other issues. Salehi disagreed, saying it was the Western powers who need to compromise.

"Iran has demonstrated its political will and it is up to the other side to take a step forward and show that it has the political will to allow a resolution of the problem," he was quoted as saying on Iran's Press TV website.

SKHIRAT, Morocco — The UN envoy to Libya's peace talks sounded a positive note Thursday as negotiations between the rival governments took another break with a deal remaining elusive.

Bernardino Leon said after the latest round of talks — which he had called "decisive" — that the two sides would return by next week to continue discussing proposals for a unity government and security arrangements.

He maintained that progress had been made by narrowing the discussions down to a UN proposal and the two rival governments were committed to the process.

"We have gone beyond the point of no return and they are convinced there will be a national solution," he said at a resort town near the Moroccan capital where the talks are being held.

The UN has presented a detailed proposal for bringing together the warring parties, including maintaining the internationally recognised elected parliament based in the eastern city of Tobruk.

Libya is torn apart by warring militias with two governments on either end of the country claiming legitimacy.

Radical groups pledging allegiance to the extremist Islamic State group are growing in power in the chaotic country, adding urgency for the international community for the warring sides to reach an agreement.

LONDON — Conflict in Yemen risks spilling out into the busy sea lanes that pass it and potentially disrupt the narrow Bab Al Mandeb passage through which nearly 4 million barrels of oil are shipped daily to Europe, the United States and Asia.

Oil prices rose as much as 6 per cent on Thursday after neighbouring Saudi Arabia and its allies launched air strikes on Yemen that targeted Iran-backed Houthi rebels fighting to oust Yemen's president.

The development is a gamble by the world's top oil exporter to check Iranian influence in its backyard.

"The collapse of Yemen as a political reality and the power of the Houthis will enable Iran to expand its presence on both sides of the Bab Al Mandeb, in the Gulf of Aden and in the Red Sea. Already discrete numbers of Iranian naval vessels regularly sail these waters," J. Peter Pham of US think tank the Atlantic Council said.

Analysts say Houthi forces do not themselves have the maritime capabilities or the interest to target the Bab Al Mandeb, while warning of Iranian influence.

"If the Iranians were to gain access to a de facto base in some port or another controlled by the Houthis whom they have aided in the latter's fight, the balance of power in the sub-region would shift significantly," said Pham, who also advises US, European and African governments

The United States and its allies regularly stage naval exercises in the Gulf. The head of US forces in the region said on Thursday the US military would work with Gulf and European partners to ensure the Bab Al Mandeb remained opened.

Militants have launched successful maritime attacks in the area before. Yemen has a 1,900km coastline that also juts into the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea.

A suicide bombing carried out by Al Qaeda killed 17 sailors on the US warship Cole in Aden's port in 2000. Two years later, Al Qaeda hit a French tanker in the Gulf of Aden, south of the Bab Al Mandeb.

Egypt has said it could not stand by if its interests were threatened.

Maritime sources said four Egyptian naval vessels have crossed the Suez Canal en route to Yemen to secure the Gulf of Aden and were expected to reach the Red Sea later on Thursday.

Iran, which denies providing money and training to Houthi militia, demanded an immediate halt to all military "aggressions" in Yemen.

Last year Israel seized a ship in the Red Sea on suspicion of smuggling arms from Iran to the Gaza Strip.

"If such operations were to increase or an intrusive inspection regime introduced, there would be obvious repercussions to shipping through the Bab Al Mandeb, possibly even creating a real choke point," the Atlantic Council's Pham said.

The area has also witnessed multiple hijackings on merchant ships by Somali pirate gangs in recent years, which has abated due to the presence of international naval forces including the United States and Iran.

Insurance risks

Shipping and insurance sources say disruptions to shipping would raise costs. Yemen shut its major seaports on Thursday due to the fighting.

"If a ship is attacked or damaged that would lead to an immediate market reaction. No one at the moment wants to be first to do anything. But everyone is watching this minute by minute," a top ship insurer said.

Any closure of Bab Al Mandeb, Arabic for "Gate of Tears" due to its precarious navigation, would close off the Suez Canal and the SUMED pipeline that connects to the Mediterranean and supplies oil to southern Europe.

"If an escalating conflict results in the closure of the Bab Al Mandeb Straits, tankers from the Persian Gulf would be unable to reach the Suez Canal and the SUMED Pipeline, diverting them around the southern tip of Africa, a journey of at least 40 days," said shipping analyst Natasha Boyden with MLV & Co.

Yemen was already considered a higher risk area than Syria and Iraq, shippers said.

"Because of recent events, Yemen is now really in a category where no one is binding new business. Instead they are working on evacuation and business interruption for existing clients who are abandoning assets," said Smita Malik of insurance provider Clements Worldwide.

"It is like the analogy that you can't insure your house when it is already on fire."

BEIRUT — Syrian government airstrikes and shelling in the country's south killed at least 18 people on Thursday, including three children, opposition activists said.

The attacks come amid heightened clashes in southern Syria between government forces and rebels who seized the nearby ancient town of Busra Sham the previous day.

Thursday's shelling struck an area known as Daraa Al Balad in the city of Daraa. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 18 people were killed while an activist in Daraa province, Ahmad Masalma, put the number at 21. The activists said the death toll is likely to rise because many of the wounded were in critical condition.

Busra Sham, a town classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its historic citadel and well-preserved Roman theater, had been in the hands of President Bashar Assad's troops throughout the four-year-old conflict. It was considered to be a stronghold of pro-government forces in Daraa province.

The fighting in southern Syria coincided with rebel gains in the north near the city of Idlib, where a consortium of rebels launched an offensive earlier this week.

Heavy fighting raged around Idlib in northwestern Syria on Thursday as rebels pressed ahead with their offensive against the government stronghold. The opposition groups have advanced through the outskirts of Idlib, the provincial capital and home to some 165,000 people, since launching their campaign Tuesday. 

The observatory said the rebels have seized at least 17 checkpoints and military outposts from pro-Assad troops. It said at least 11 government fighters and 17 rebels have been killed over the past 24 hours.

The offensive is being led by several groups, including Al Qaida's branch in Syria, known as the Nusra Front, as well as the ultra-conservative Ahrar Al Sham and Jund Al Aqsa groups.

UNITED NATIONS — The UN's top Mideast envoy challenged the Security Council on Thursday to step up and lead the way to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying the international community should seriously consider presenting a framework for negotiations that "may be the only way to preserve the goal of a two-state solution".

Robert Serry in his final briefing to the council also sharply criticised Israel's illegal settlement building, saying it "may kill the very possibility of reaching peace on the paradigm of two states for two peoples".

"I frankly do not know if it is already too late," Serry said.

The UN envoy spoke a day after Israel's prime minister was officially chosen to form a new government following an acrimonious election campaign.

President Barack Obama has been clear this week about his impatience with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments shortly before the Israeli elections that he would not allow the establishment of a Palestinian state on his watch.

Netanyahu has struck a conciliatory tone since the elections. But Obama has said he will reassess US policy towards Israel after Netanyahu’s remarks, meaning that the Security Council could be a potential place to take action on the decades-long conflict.

The council has long been blocked from taking action on the crisis, as United States is a top Israeli ally whose veto power as a permanent council member has been used to protect Israel for years. In late December, the council rejected a Palestinian resolution demanding an end to Israeli occupation within three years.

France, another permanent council member, has said in recent days it is willing to revisit the idea of a Security Council resolution.

Diplomats on Thursday, however, said the United States expressed no hint of Obama’s stance during their statement in closed-door consultations after Serry’s public briefing.

The Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, told reporters he agrees with Serry’s comments.

“We hope the Security Council will... take that responsibility very seriously,” Mansour said. He said he wants to see a resolution with a timeframe for ending the Israeli occupation and with terms of reference for the peace process.

But the Palestinian envoy asked whether “key players” on the council would allow such a resolution to go through, a reference to the United States.

Mansour also said Netanyahu does not support a two-state solution, “regardless of his backpedalling” on his comments.

Israel’s UN Ambassador Ron Prosor criticised the Palestinians for pursuing “empty resolutions” and insisted that his country’s bond with the United States is strong.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — The long-running conflict with Israel claimed the lives of more Palestinian civilians in 2014 than any year since 1967, the United Nations said Thursday, in a damning report on the humanitarian situation.

Meanwhile, rights group Amnesty International criticised the "flagrant disregard" by Palestinian armed groups for the lives of Israeli civilians, fingering the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip as a culprit.

In 2014, Israel and Hamas fought a devastating war in Gaza that killed nearly 2,200 people, while intense violence in East Jerusalem and the West Bank killed dozens of Palestinians and several Israelis.

A report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) entitled "Fragmented Lives" called for more restraint on both sides.

"All parties to the conflict... must fulfil their legal obligations to conduct hostilities in accordance with international law to ensure the protection of all civilians and to ensure accountability for acts committed," it said.

“Palestinian civilians continue to be subject to threats to their life, physical safety and liberty,” with 2014 witnessing the “highest civilian death toll since 1967”, OCHA said.

“In the Gaza Strip, 1.8 million Palestinians endured the worst escalation of hostilities since 1967: over 1,500 Palestinian civilians were killed, more than 11,000 injured and some 100,000 remain displaced.”

More than 550 children were among the dead, it added.

“On the Israeli side, five civilians, including a child, as well as a security guard were killed,” it added, expressing “serious concerns... over the conduct of hostilities of both Israeli forces and Palestinian actors”.

In addition to the casualties among Palestinians, 73 died on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers.

London-based Amnesty condemned Hamas’s “flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law”, referring notably to its rocket attacks on Israeli civilian areas during the war.

“Palestinian armed groups must end all direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks,” it said.

But it said the fact that they “appear to have carried out war crimes by firing indiscriminate rockets and mortars does not absolve the Israeli forces from their obligations”.

The Palestinians are to sue Israel next month in the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes as early as next month.

That could open up Hamas to criminal investigation as well.

In the West Bank and Jerusalem, 58 Palestinians were killed, mostly in clashes with Israeli forces, and more than 6,000 wounded.

Palestinian attacks on Israelis, including incidents in which cars ran into pedestrians in Jerusalem, killed 12 people.

Meanwhile, OCHA said “a record number of 1,215 Palestinians were displaced due to home demolitions,” adding that “settlement and settler activity continued, in contravention of international law and contributed to humanitarian vulnerability of affected Palestinian communities.”

The international community urges Israel to halt Jewish settlement building on occupied Palestinian territory, seeing it as an obstacle to peace.

Israel occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Arab east Jerusalem in the 1967 war and unilaterally annexed east Jerusalem shortly after.

BAGHDAD — Iraqi special forces advanced on central Tikrit on Thursday, backed by US-led coalition planes in the largest offensive yet against Daesh militants holding out in Saddam Hussein's home city.

Coalition jets launched their first air strikes against Daesh targets in Tikrit on Wednesday, coming off the sidelines to aid Iraqi forces against the militants.

Underlying the complex web of loyalties behind the conflict, a senior US general said Washington had demanded the withdrawal of Iran-backed Shiite militias fighting alongside Iraq's government before agreeing to take part.

Two Shiite Muslim groups in turn said they were suspending participation in the fight in protest against the US involvement.

Some of the militias have targeted Americans in past Iraqi conflicts, but the fight against Daesh has put them on the same side.

A spokesman for Iraq's defence ministry said the coalition had carried out 17 strikes in Tikrit so far, in addition to 24 by Iraq's own airforce.

"The Iraqi and coalition air forces conduct strikes in order to remove the enemy and then our forces advance," said General Tahsin Ibrahim Sadiq. "When the attacking forces advance, they clear any pockets of resistance and allow for the rest of our forces to move in and barricade further ahead."

More than 20,000 Iraqi troops and allied Shiite paramilitary groups known as Hashid Shaabi have been taking part in the offensive, which began in early March but was brought to a halt around two weeks ago by homemade bombs and booby-traps.

Iraqi forces retook the area surrounding Tikrit in the first week of the campaign, and entered some districts of the city itself, which had been overrun in June by the Daesh terror group.

But the militants have held out for more than three weeks in several areas including a sprawling complex of palaces that was built during Saddam's rule and covers an area of around 6km overlooking the Tigris River, according to provincial officials.

The mayor of Tikrit said coalition and Iraqi planes were striking the palace complex as well as the northern Qadisiya district, part of which is still held by insurgents, and the Shisheen neighbourhood in the south.

“The focus is on the IS [Daesh] leadership command locations,” said Omar Al Tikriti. Targets had to be carefully identified because Daesh fighters were believed to be holding prisoners in some of the 65 palaces.

Two officers in the Tikrit operations centre said coalition and Iraqi strikes had targeted parts of the complex used by the militants to store weapons and ammunition.

The coalition joined the fray in Tikrit at the request of Iraqi military commanders, but Shiite militia commanders publicly rejected any US role in the campaign to retake the jihadist bastion.

The Kataib Hizbollah and Asaib Ahl Al Haq militias both suspended their participation in Tikrit on Thursday in protest, although the Badr Organisation, which is the largest and most powerful group within the Hashid Shaabi said it would continue to fight.

“We were able to conclude the battle ourselves, but the US came in order to usurp this major victory,” Asaib Ahl Al Haq spokesman Naim Al Uboudi said.

Jaafar Al Husseini, a military spokesman for Kataib Hizbollah, criticised Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi for inviting the coalition to take part and threatened to withdraw from the battlefield.

“It is not possible for Kataib Hizbollah or any of the resistance factions to be in the same trench as the Americans.”

Speaking at an airbase where Iraqi planes were taking off to fly sorties over Tikrit, Iraq’s Defence Minister Khaled Al Obeidi played down the role of Iranian advisers in the battle.

“The Iranian advisers have nothing to do with the work of the air force,” Obeidi said. “The Iranians are working with the brothers in the Hashid Shaabi as advisers, and I think their presence is always in the rear positions.”

TUNIS — Tunisia said on Thursday that an attack on a Tunis museum last week was launched by a cell of 23 militants, including an Algerian and Moroccans, with overlapping allegiances to a number of hardline Islamist groups.

Tunisian Interior Minister Najem Gharsalli said 80 per cent of the group had already been arrested over the killing of 20 tourists including Japanese, French and Italians in an attack claimed by Daesh terror group.

"This cell is linked to Okba Ibn Nafaa and Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, most of them came originally from Ansar Al Sharia," Gharsalli said. "It is a group of 23 people, including two Moroccans and an algerian, but 80 per cent of them are already arrested."

Ansar Al Sharia is listed as a terrorist group by Washington. Okba is mainly based in the Chaambi mountains bordering Algeria. That group has been tied to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's original Algerian leadership. But it has also issued ambiguous statements about Daesh.

Lines are blurring between Islamist militants in North Africa as members of local Al Qaeda affiliates are drawn to Daesh’s high-profile attacks following its success in seizing swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria last year.

Arab Spring

Daesh split off from Al Qaeda and shares its violent Salafist Sunni Muslim ideology. Some militants who once stood with Al Qaeda have embraced Daesh’s self-declared "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria to take on its banner.

More than 3,000 Tunisians have left to fight in Iraq and Syria and the government is concerned those who return will carry out more attacks on Tunisian soil.

Daesh is already gaining a foothold in the chaos of neighbouring Libya, where two rival governments battle for control.

The Bardo attack is testing Tunisia just as the North African country is being hailed as an example for democratic transition four years after its "Arab Spring" uprising to oust autocrat Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali.

Western leaders, including France's Francois Hollande and Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, are expected for a large march in solidarity on Sunday, local officials said.

Since its 2011 revolution, Tunisia mostly avoided the turmoil facing other "Arab Spring" countries. Secular and Islamist politicians have compromised to make their transition work, approve a new constitution and hold free elections.

But security forces have been waging a low-level war against Islamist militants. Until the Bardo attack though most militant assaults were focussed on security forces in remote areas.

SHARM EL SHEIKH — The 26th Arab League Summit will begin Saturday with the Saudi-led strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen and developments in the country set to dominate the agenda of high-profile annual gathering.

At their summit, Arab leaders will adopt a resolution supporting the legitimacy of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and condemning escalations by Houthi rebels seeking to oust the president.

Considering the Houthi hostilities and the takeover of Sanaa and many other cities as a coup, Arab leaders are set to voice support to the operation in Yemen and urge the Houthis to immediately withdraw from cities and public facilities of which they took control, according to a copy of the draft resolutions adopted by Arab foreign ministers that will be forwarded to leaders for endorsement.

The ministers also held a special emergency meeting on Yemen, during which they reworded the resolution on Yemen to provide Arab support for the operation dubbed “Operation Storm of Resolve”.

On terrorism, Arab leaders are set to look into forming a joint Arab force to face terrorist groups including Daesh, according to the draft, a copy of which was obtained by The Jordan Times.

At the summit, expected to be attended by 13 heads of state with Syria's seat vacant since 2011, Arab leaders will commit to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which offers Israel normal ties with the Arabs in return for withdrawal from territories it occupied in 1967, while rejecting the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

The Arab leaders are expected to adopt a resolution on East Jerusalem, stressing there is no peace without East Jerusalem being the capital of Palestine. 

On Libya, the leaders are expected to endorse a resolution urging the UN to lift a ban on the legitimate Libyan government to import weapons.

Lifting the ban will help provide the Libyan national army with necessary weapons to face terrorism and enforce security, the resolution says, while calling for efforts to prevent the influx of weapons and ammunition to terrorist groups in Libya via sea and air.

Arab leaders are also expected to voice their concern over the situation in Syria, while calling on the Security Council to shoulder its responsibilities in addressing the unrest in the country.

“The developments in Yemen are very serious and have implications not only on the national security of Yemen but on others,” Arab League Secretary General Nabil El Araby said at the opening of the Arab foreign ministers preparatory meeting for the summit, which will run through Sunday.

Voicing the Arab League’s support for the Saudi Arabian-led operation, Araby said it is in line with the league’s charter and the Treaty of Joint Defence and Economic Cooperation of the League of Arab States.

“The Yemeni president asked for intervention directly from the UN and the Arab League,” he said.

In a speech at the opening session, Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah said the serious escalations by the Houthis necessitated an immediate intervention.

“The intervention in Yemen is meant to prevent more chaos and destruction in the country,” the Kuwaiti official said.

SANAA/ADEN — Yemen's President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi left his refuge in Aden under Saudi protection on Thursday and arrived in Saudi Arabia as Houthi rebels battled with forces still loyal to him on the outskirts of the southern port city.

Throughout the day, warplanes from Saudi Arabia and Arab allies struck at Houthi forces, who have taken over much of the country in their campaign to oust Hadi.

The Saudi-led military intervention marked a major escalation of the Yemen crisis, in which Iran supports the Shiite Muslim Houthis, and Sunni Muslim monarchies in the Gulf back Hadi and his fellow Sunni loyalists in Yemen's south.

Iran denounced the surprise assault on the Houthis and demanded an immediate halt to Saudi-led military operations.

Tehran also made clear Saudi Arabia’s deployment of a Sunni coalition against its Shiite enemies would complicate efforts to end a conflict that will only inflame the sectarian hatreds already fuelling wars around the Middle East.

But Hadi’s departure from Aden, where he had holed up since fleeing the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa in February, could also be a turning point.

Saudi state television channel Al Ekhbariya said Hadi had arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Thursday. Saudi-owned al Arabiya television said he would go onto the Eyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh to attend an Arab summit on Saturday.

Mohammed Marem, the director of Hadi’s office, confirmed he would attend the Sharm meeting in person, dropping his original plan to address other Arab leaders via a closed-circuit television link.

“In light of the events and developments that have happened since dawn, he has decided to attend the summit and participate in person,” Marem told Reuters.

But it was not certain if Hadi would be able to return to Aden.

On the city’s northern outskirts, Houthis and allied troops fought gun battles with militiamen loyal to Hadi. Thirteen pro-Houthi fighters and three militiamen were killed.

Pro-Hadi fighters retook Aden airport, a day after it was captured by Houthi forces advancing on the city. The facility remained closed.

Major gamble

The Saudi move was a major gamble by the world’s top oil exporter to check Iranian influence in its backyard without direct military backing from Washington.

“We will do whatever it takes in order to protect the legitimate government of Yemen from falling,” Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, Adel Al Jubeir, told a news conference in Washington.

In Sanaa, which the Houthis seized in September, warplanes bombed the main airport and al Dulaimi military air base, residents said, in an apparent attempt to weaken the Houthis’ air power.

A Reuters witness said four or five houses had been damaged. Rescue workers put the death toll at 13, including a doctor pulled from the rubble of his clinic.

In a day of attacks, warplanes struck Houthi fighters near Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia, tribal and Houthi sources said. There was also heavy street fighting in Houta, north of Aden, in which five pro-Houthi fighters and four militiamen were killed.

Thousands of Houthi supporters gathered to condemn the air strikes at the gate to Sanaa’s old city, waving Houthi banners and chanting, “Death to America!”

Al Arabiya said Saudi Arabia was contributing 100 warplanes to operation “Storm of Resolve” and more than 85 were provided by the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan.

Jordan and Sudan said their forces were involved in the operation. Egyptian air forces were participating and four naval ships headed to secure the Gulf of Aden. Turkey said it may provide logistical support to the Saudi-led operation.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s said any threat to Saudi Arabia would “evoke a strong response” from Islamabad.

Pakistan — which borders eastern Iran — was considering a Saudi request for troops to send to Yemen, Islamabad said.

A Saudi official familiar with defence matters told Reuters that a “land offensive might be needed to restore order”.

Arab foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Egypt on Thursday on a draft resolution to form a unified Arab military force, Egyptian state TV said. Its role would be as a rapid interventon force.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin called for an immediate cessation of military activities in Yemen in phone conversations with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, the Kremlin said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry raised the topic of Yemen on Thursday with his Iranian counterpart before turning to nuclear negotiations in Lausanne, Switzerland, a State Department spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Ministry demanded an immediate halt to the “aggression and air strikes” in Yemen.

“Military actions in Yemen...will further complicate the situation,” ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said, quoted by Fars news agancy.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters: “Iran will use all possible political ways to allay tension in Yemen. Military intervention is not an option for Tehran.”

A United Arab Emirates official expressed Gulf Arab concerns about Iranian influence in Yemen.

“The strategic change in the region benefits Iran and we cannot be silent about the fact that the Houthis carry their banner,” the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Mohammed Gargash said.

While the advance against Hadi has been publicly led by the Houthis, many Yemenis believe the real instigator of their campaign is former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a critic of Hadi who retains influence in the army.

Riyadh accuses Iran of stirring up sectarian strife throughout the region and in Yemen with its support for the Houthis. Iran publicly denies funding and training the Houthis.

Ambassador Jubeir said the assaults were in response to a request by Hadi.

Washington said it supported the operation and had authorised US logistical and intelligence support.

US forces were not involved in direct military action in Yemen. France and Britain also backed the operation but the European Union said military action was not a solution.

A Houthi leader said the air strikes would set off a “wide war” in the region.

Houthi-run Al Masirah television said the strikes had hit a residential neighbourhood north of Sanaa and caused dozens of casualties.

Al Masirah showed the body of a girl and several of the wounded, including a weeping man who said the strikes had killed his son and destroyed his home.

A widening Yemen conflict could pose risks for global oil supplies and oil prices surged more than 4 per cent on Thursday.

Yemen closed its main ports. But the US military said it would help ensure the Bab Al Mandeb strait at the tip of the Red Sea remains open.