TAIZ, Yemen/DUBAI (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran wanted to reach a deal with Washington, signalling a possible diplomatic opening as fighting across the Middle East widened and threatened global oil supplies.
“The failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly. I will determine whether or not the U.S.A. will choose to engage – The concept of which we are open to,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He made his comments came after Gulf Arab states postponed a planned meeting with Iran and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis launched a fresh attack on Saudi Arabia, highlighting fears the conflict could spread further across the region.
The Houthis said they fired dozens of missiles and drones at a military airbase in Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia, targeting aircraft hangars, radar systems, runways and ammunition depots in retaliation for Saudi airstrikes in Yemen.
Saudi authorities issued emergency alerts there and in three other southern cities which have previously come under Houthi fire.
The Houthis have advanced rapidly in Yemen in recent days, capturing territory including Perim Island at the mouth of the Red Sea on Friday.
A separate attack the same day, which Riyadh blamed on Iran-backed fighters in Iraq, knocked out Saudi Arabia’s east-west pipeline, a key route that allows Gulf oil exports to bypass the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
