North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would “expand and deepen” joint work with Russia ​in a message to Russian President Vladimir ‌Putin, state media KCNA reported on Tuesday.

In a reply sent on Monday to Putin’s congratulations for North Korea’s 78th ​founding anniversary, Kim said Pyongyang’s government had a ​firm will to broaden cooperation with Russia “in a ⁠comprehensive way” based on friendship, mutual assistance, and ​what he described as the countries’ alliance relations.

Kim ​also said he was convinced of Russia’s victory in the current “sacred war for defending the security interests of the country and international ​justice”, language that appeared to refer to Russia’s war ​in Ukraine.

He pledged his “invariable support” for Putin and the Russian ‌people.

The ⁠remarks come as Moscow and Pyongyang have drawn markedly closer, with North Korea sending troops to fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine in 2024 and deepening military cooperation under a ​mutual defence pact.

Kim ​delivered a ⁠similar message to Chinese President Xi Jinping in a reply published by KCNA ​on Sunday, saying North Korea would ​work with ⁠China to further develop their traditional friendship and advance their shared socialist cause.

Both messages were responses to ⁠congratulatory ​letters sent by Putin and Xi ​on September 9, when North Korea marked the 78th anniversary of ​its founding.

A lightning offensive by the Iran-aligned Houthis has put the militants in a position to control a crucial Middle East waterway, creating a major new problem for U.S. President Donald ​Trump as his war with Iran grinds on in its seventh month, Reuters reported.

Widening the Middle East conflict, Houthi fighters have advanced south along Yemen’s coast, increasing their ability to choke off the Bab el-Mandeb ‌Strait — the “Gate of Tears” at the mouth of the Red Sea — giving Tehran potential leverage over both of the region’s main oil-shipping corridors.

The militants reached the island of Perim on Friday, in the middle of the strait between Yemen and Africa. That is bad news for Saudi Arabia, which has been shipping much of its oil from Red Sea ports since the war effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula.

It also comes at a difficult time for Trump, who is already grappling with record-low approval ratings and searching ​for a way out of the conflict, most recently by announcing an economic pressure campaign designed to force concessions from Iran’s government.

High U.S. gasoline prices driven by the conflict have jeopardized his Republican Party’s chances of keeping ​control of Congress in the November midterm elections. Iran remains defiant despite being hurt militarily and economically.

“Just weeks ago, Trump adopted a strategy of squeezing Iran’s economy while keeping military ⁠conflict at levels too low to squeeze the American economy,” said Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The Houthis have shattered Trump’s plan.”

The U.S. administration can’t afford to have the Houthis close ​the strait, driving up energy prices and disrupting global trade.

But at the same time, entering a fight with a foe that has withstood previous attacks by Saudi Arabia and the U.S. would be a dangerous new mission for a U.S. military already ​stretched by the fighting in Iran.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, phoned Trump on Thursday and asked for U.S. military help fighting the Houthis, three sources told Reuters. He was told Washington would not intervene directly for now but would help with intelligence, the sources said.

Trump confirmed on Saturday that he had spoken to the crown prince, and said the Houthis had also phoned his administration and asked for Washington not to become directly involved in the conflict, read the report.

A senior Trump administration official declined to address specific questions, but said ​the U.S. is focused on national security interests such as ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea “while empowering our regional partners to take the lead in managing and resolving regional security challenges”.

Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Houthis did not respond ​to a request for comment. Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the Yemen conflict could not be solved by blockade or military action against the Houthis and called for dialogue, without addressing Iran’s own role.

Iran responded to ‌U.S. and Israeli ⁠attacks earlier this year by disrupting the Strait of Hormuz, the outlet to the Gulf through which around a fifth of global oil supplies flowed before the war.

If the Houthis close the Bab el-Mandeb, that would deal another economic blow, constraining another 7% of global petroleum supplies and about 12% of global trade.

“This was always the worst-case scenario, that the Iranians exert control not only of Strait of Hormuz but Bab el-Mandeb, two of the leading energy choke points in the world,” said David Schenker, who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs during Trump’s first term and is now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank.

“It’s an enormous amount of leverage that [the Iranians] have in hand.”

Analysts and former officials say Trump ​now faces a choice: devote U.S. forces and scarce ​air-defense munitions to pushing back the Houthis, or leave ⁠Saudi Arabia and its allies, a Yemeni government based in the south, to confront them alone.

The Houthis seized Yemen’s capital 12 years ago, and a Saudi-led military intervention has failed to dislodge them since.

Taking on the Houthis would effectively end a deal Trump struck last year in which the U.S. would stop bombing the group in exchange for a halt to strikes ​on Red Sea shipping. That would be likely to expose U.S. forces to missile attacks from Yemen.

It would also be another burden for the U.S. ​military.

U.S. officials say a fight with ⁠the Houthis could require significant naval and aerial resources and divert U.S. intelligence assets, given the need to pinpoint Houthi positions that have changed since last year.

If U.S. Navy vessels and aircraft have to start shooting down Houthi drones and missiles, it could also worsen diminished stockpiles of U.S. munitions and air-defense interceptors.

The senior administration official denied that the U.S. was concerned about its resources being stretched. “The United States Military has more than enough munitions, ammo, and stockpiles to serve all of the Commander-in-Chief’s strategic goals and beyond,” ⁠the official said.

Tim ​Lenderking, who served as U.S. special envoy on Yemen under former President Joe Biden and is now a principal at law firm Squire Patton ​Boggs, said that with Trump signaling an unwillingness to get directly involved militarily against the Houthis, the U.S. needs to do more to share intelligence with the Saudis for their air campaign and step up diplomatic and material support for Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

“This administration came in asking the question, ‘What can ​Yemen do for us?’” Lenderking said during a webcast sponsored by the Middle East Institute think-tank in Washington. “Well, Yemen can spoil our day.”

U.S. President Donald Trump says he does not regret launching the war against Iran, despite its potential impact on the November midterm elections.

In an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Trump said that if given the choice again, he would take the same course of action, adding that he does not believe in the word “regret.”

Trump also dismissed suggestions that some of his supporters had become upset or demoralized over the war, saying they were proud that he was preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

He also reiterated his claim that the war would end immediately after the midterm elections, saying, “It ends right after the election.”

The conflict and the resulting rise in oil and gas prices have become a major political issue for Republicans ahead of the elections.

The United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, while Iran responded with strikes on Israel and Gulf states hosting U.S. military bases. The fighting has reportedly killed thousands and displaced millions.

Trump has cited the weakening of Iran’s nuclear capabilities as one of the main objectives of the war. Iran, however, says its uranium-enrichment program is peaceful and maintains that it does not possess nuclear weapons.