Iran's leader on Thursday condemned the military intervention by its main regional rival Saudi Arabia in Yemen as genocide, sharply escalating Tehran's rhetoric against the two-week-old campaign of air strikes.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called on Tuesday for Iran to get involved in a debate on security in Yemen as parliament resumed discussion on whether Pakistan should join a Saudi-led campaign against Iran-allied Yemeni forces.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar said on Thursday they had decided to act to protect Yemen against what they called aggression by the Houhti militia, according to a joint statement by the five Gulf Arab countries.
Saudi troops clashed with Yemeni Houthi fighters on Tuesday in the heaviest exchange of cross-border fire since the start of a Saudi-led air offensive last week, while Yemen's foreign minister called for a rapid Arab intervention on the ground.
A high-level Pakistani defense delegation was about to leave for Saudi Arabia on Monday as the government in Islamabad considers whether to join a Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.
Arab leaders at a summit in Egypt announced the formation of a unified military force to counter growing security threats from Yemen to Libya, and as regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran engage in sectarian proxy wars.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has called on all sides in a widening conflict in Yemen to obey the rules of war, voicing concern at reports of civilian casualties following Saudi-led air strikes.
Warplanes from Saudi Arabia and Arab allies struck Shi'ite Muslim rebels fighting to oust Yemen's president on Thursday, a gamble by the world's top oil exporter to check Iranian influence in its backyard without direct military backing from Washington.
Saudi Arabia is moving heavy military equipment including artillery to areas near its border with Yemen, U.S. officials said on Tuesday, raising the risk that the Middle East’s top oil power will be drawn into the worsening Yemeni conflict.
The United States will struggle to follow through on threats to impose deeper sanctions on the Russian energy sector, as European fears over collateral economic damage leave President Barack Obama's administration with diminished options.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Gulf Arab foreign ministers in Riyadh on Thursday to brief them on progress in the nuclear talks with Iran and offer reassurance that any deal would not damage their interests.
The United States and Turkey have reached a tentative agreement to train and equip moderate Syrian opposition fighters and expect to sign the pact soon, U.S. and Turkish officials said on Tuesday with Ankara predicting a signing in days.
From India where marital rape is legal to Russia where women are banned from 456 jobs, scores of countries have failed to honor a promise to scrap all laws that discriminate against women, campaigners said on Saturday.
Iran's foreign minister has warned the United States that failure to agree a nuclear deal would likely herald the political demise of pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani, Iranian officials said, raising the stakes as the decade-old stand-off nears its end-game.
Six people have been charged with providing money and equipment including U.S. military uniforms to foreign fighters joining al Qaeda, Nusra Front and Islamic State in Syriaand Iraq, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.
The leader of Yemen's Houthis who control the capital Sanaa said on Tuesday his group was seeking a peaceful transfer of power after the resignation of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and urged all factions to work together to solve the crisis.
U.S. President Barack Obama and new Saudi Arabia King Salman are expected to discuss shared concerns about the turmoil in Yemen and the fight against Islamic State militants during their first formal meeting in Riyadh on Tuesday, the White House said.
As world leaders flew to Saudi Arabia to mark the death of King Abdullah, several prominent British politicians criticized the deference shown to the leader of a country accused of having a poor human rights record.
U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to meet its new King Salman after the death of his predecessor Abdullah on Friday, testimony to Riyadh's important role in energy markets and the fight against Islamist militancy.
Saudi Arabia's Interior Minister, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a close friend of the United States and a scourge of Islamist militants, will be the country's first king from the third generation of its ruling dynasty.
U.S. President Barack Obama will cut short his visit to India on Tuesday to fly to Saudi Arabia following the death of King Abdullah, sources in the Indian capital familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
