Missile fired from Yemen as Israel and U.S. target Iran

Israel said on Saturday (March 28, 2026) it had detected a missile fired from Yemen, the first since the Iran ​war began, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. expected to conclude military operations within weeks, not months.

A ⁠month after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, the conflict has spread across the West Asia, killing thousands and causing the biggest disruption ever to energy supplies, hitting the global economy and fuelling inflation fears. While Israel said it was again hitting targets across Iran’s capital on Saturday, it identified what it said ‌was a missile launched from Yemen.

Risk of broadening war

Hours earlier, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they were prepared to act if what the group called an escalation against Iran and the “axis of resistance” continued, but did not say what form any intervention would ‌take.

Houthi involvement in the war would risk broadening the conflict, given their ability to strike targets far beyond Yemen and disrupt shipping lanes ‌around ⁠the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea, which they had done in support of Hamas in Gaza after October 7, ⁠2023.

Mr. Rubio told reporters after meeting Group of Seven counterparts in France that Washington was “on or ahead of schedule in that operation, and expect to conclude it at the appropriate time here – a matter of weeks, not months”. The war has driven a wedge between the U.S. and its traditional allies, who have stayed on the sidelines. President Donald Trump said this ​lack of support had implications for NATO, the West’s most ‌important alliance.

“We would have always been there for them, but now, based on their actions, I guess we don’t have to be, do we?” Mr. Trump told an investment forum in Miami on Friday. “Why would we be there for them if they’re not there for us? They weren’t there for us.”

Israeli strike on Iranian steel factories

Israel’s military said on Saturday (March 28) it had detected incoming missiles from Iran, ⁠and Syrian state television reported explosions heard above the capital Damascus from Israeli intercepts of the Iranian missiles. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain also reported ⁠missile attacks early on Saturday, with five people injured and fires reported after a missile was intercepted near Abu Dhabi’s KEZAD economic zone.

At least five people were killed and seven injured after a U.S.-Israeli attack on a residential unit in Iran’s northwestern city of Zanjan, ‌Iranian media reported early on Saturday. The Iran University of Science and Technology in Tehran was also struck, media reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X that Israel, in coordination with the U.S., had also hit two steel factories and a power plant. “Attack contradicts POTUS ​extended deadline for diplomacy. Iran will exact HEAVY price for Israeli crimes,” Mr. Araghchi said on Friday (March 27), using an acronym for President of the United States.