'Do I want to 'go in and annihilate' them?': Trump weighs endgame as seven-month Iran war stalls with no clear plan
From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.
Houthi imagery allegedly showing a Saudi jet being downed, as China moves to pressure Iran into restraining the group following a direct appeal from Riyadh.Houthi fighters pose beside the wreckage of what the group claims is a downed Saudi aircraft, as Saudi Arabia's appeal to Beijing has prompted China to press Tehran to curb the militia's escalating campaign.A US Air Force surveillance aircraft at Prince Sultan Air Force Base in Saudi Arabia, its tail severed and radar dome destroyed, as Houthi attacks knock out the kingdom's East-West Pipeline — its main alternative oil…Collapsed and burning structures at a US military base, black smoke rising overhead, as more than 125,000 people have been driven from their homes by Yemen's latest fighting.
South Korea's president has publicly refused Trump's reported request to send troops, while Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia are threatening what one expert calls the biggest threat to Saudi oil production since the kingdom was founded in 1932.
Trump told Axios he is weighing whether to 'go in and annihilate' Iran, calling it 'a big decision — anything could happen with me.'
Iran-backed Houthis are seizing territory near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait; drone debris from a Saudi intercept killed one person this week.
A peace memorandum collapsed in June, the US has lost over $720 million in drones, and shipping rates are approaching record highs.
