Iran said Qatar was holding three of its pilots who had been missing since March, which Qatar denied. The United Arab Emirates accused Iran of again attacking one of its ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The Iran-backed Houthis again attacked a Red Sea port in Yemen. And in southern Lebanon, 11 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes, some of the deadliest since an uneasy truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah took effect on June 20. Here’s a look at Saturday’s latest developments in the Iran war and across the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here. Iran says Qatar has 3 of its pilots Qatar’s armed forces have captured and held three pilots who went missing in March when their planes were shot down, the Missing Persons Committee of the General Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces said. Qatar, however, denied this. Until now, Tehran had said it had no information about his fate. This is the first known case in the war in which Iran has said that a country in the region is holding its fighters. On March 2, Qatar said its air force shot down two Iranian bombers as Tehran attacked countries hosting U.S. military bases in the early days of the war. Saturday’s statement alleged that Qatar had not allowed the pilots to meet or communicate with Iranian families or officials handling their cases. Iran asked the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross for help. The letter said a fourth pilot was killed while on the mission “targeting an enemy military base in Qatar,” state media reported. A spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, Majed Al Ansari, later denied the claims, stating in X that the pilots had been shot down and that Qatari search and rescue teams found the remains of one. He said Iran was invited in April to visit him and receive information about those efforts, with no response. Oil tanker attacked in Strait of Hormuz The oil tanker owned by Abu Dhabi’s state oil and gas company, ADNOC, was attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported on Saturday. There were no injuries in the Friday afternoon attack, the agency reported. It was the third such attack on an ADNOC-operated ship in the critical waterway in the past week. In a statement, the United Arab Emirates called on Iran to stop the unprovoked attacks. The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations center said a bulk carrier was hit in the hull by an unknown projectile on Friday. It was not immediately clear if it was the same ship. Iran asserted its control over the strait after the war began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks. About a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas previously passed through the waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Talks between the United States and Iran have stalled as Iran is in talks with Oman over how to manage the strait separating them that had been considered an international waterway. Israeli airstrikes kill 11 in southern Lebanon Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 11 people on Saturday. Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state news agency said an attack targeted a house on the outskirts of the village of Ansar, killing seven people, including three children, and wounding two. The second, in the village of Deir al-Zahrani, killed four and wounded 17. The Israeli military said it killed a Hezbollah battalion commander and several other militants at a headquarters in southern Lebanon in response to the group’s actions against Israeli soldiers operating there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a separate statement that three soldiers were seriously injured. The military blamed an explosive drone. The military said the commander’s family was with him and that “it must be emphasized that family members were not the target of the attack.” Both the military and Netanyahu’s office alleged that the commander used family members as human shields. Subscribe to Morning Wire: Our flagship newsletter breaks down the day’s biggest headlines. It was one of the deadliest days since the Lebanese government and Israel announced a “framework agreement” that laid out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of Hezbollah. The militant group refused to engage in direct talks and was not part of the agreement. Houthis in Yemen attack Red Sea port, killing at least 3 Yemeni military said the Houthis attacked the Red Sea port of Mokha under the control of the internationally recognized government. Port director Abdul-Malik al-Sharabi told reporters that the Friday afternoon attack killed three people, including two marines, and that port operations had been suspended. Military spokesman Col. Majed al-Nazili said in a statement that the Houthis fired six ballistic missiles. The Houthi attack was the latest in government-held areas and neighboring Saudi Arabia, part of an escalation that threatens to plunge Yemen back into civil war. Analysts say the escalation reflects how Iran is increasing pressure on the United States and its regional allies.
