Four Fingers News — Thursday, August 6, 2026
Day 160. “Iran-backed” is doing too much work in Yemen.
Ansarallah (“the Houthis”) says it used ballistic missiles and drones Thursday against government camps in Marib and Hadramout, calling the strikes a response to a buildup of Saudi-backed forces. Yemeni officials say at least 30 troops were killed. Ansarallah claims “hundreds” were killed or wounded; that larger figure hasn’t been independently verified. The attack is a major escalation from the de facto truce that quieted Yemen’s main front in 2022.
Iran supports Ansarallah, and the movement identifies with its Axis of Resistance. It also seized Sana’a in 2014, governs much of northern Yemen and retains its own domestic command. Calling it a proxy makes Iran the subject and Yemen the scenery. Thursday’s targets weren’t American, Israeli or Saudi. They were Yemeni.
The regional war gave Ansarallah a larger stage. It didn’t erase its original fight. The label points to Tehran. The weapons pointed at Marib.
Tehran and Muscat have agreed in principle on the coordinates of a safe shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran’s foreign ministry says a joint statement is in final drafting. It stops short of reopening the strait, closed since early July, and hinges on Washington lifting its blockade of Iran’s ports — a step the US has not agreed to. Trump said “a lot of progress” had been made and floated an announcement this week; Tehran insists the track runs through Oman, not any direct line to Washington.
| Brokered by: Oman, bilaterally | Status: agreed in principle |
| Sticking point: US port blockade | Strait: closed since early July |
| US line: no deal cementing Iran’s grip | Brent: upper $70s |
The Dow edged up 0.5% to another record Wednesday while the S&P 500 eased 0.2% off Tuesday’s 7,736 peak and the Nasdaq fell 0.8%, as traders weighed firm oil and the Hormuz talks. July payrolls Friday are the week’s next test.
Trump’s threatened 100% secondary tariffs on the biggest buyers of Russian crude — China, India, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan — reach their Aug 8 trigger in two days. The Kremlin signals no shift, and its strikes on Ukrainian cities continue.
The US-led Board of Peace now says Israel will pull back only after Hamas fully disarms, a reversal of the synchronized plan announced days earlier. Hamas says it won’t hand over weapons until Israeli forces withdraw first.
Explosive fire growth around Spokane pushed smoke and air-quality alerts west toward the Seattle metro. The statewide gas average is climbing toward $6 a gallon — roughly 30% above the national price — with the Hormuz shutdown keeping diesel elevated.
Bryan Woo scattered three hits over seven scoreless innings, and Julio Rodríguez and Colt Emerson homered as Seattle beat the Tigers 4-2 on Wednesday — a night after being shut out at home.
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