Millions of Iranians took to the streets through the Islamic Republic Friday to celebrate “International Quds Day” and express support for the “oppressed Palestinian nation,” the regime’s PRESS TV reported.

Celebrants burned American and Israeli flags in Tehran, and festivities took place in nearly 800 other locations. PRESS TV also reported that “millions of people in other countries are also marking the occasion by turning out en masse to vent their anger at the Israeli regime.”

Saudi Arabia, which is aligned with Israel in its fierce opposition to a “bad deal” with Iran and which is at war with Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen, was added to the list of the “bad guys” in this year’s Al Quds day festivities.

It is pure speculation and guesswork whether or not the United States and the other P5+1 powers will sign an agreement with Iran, but it is a safe bet that there is no chance it would be signed today when millions of Iranians are screaming “Down with America.”

No matter what comes out of the talks, Iran will claim a victory, and “Down with America” will be chanted

The United States knew more than a month ago that four Americans were being held hostage by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, according to YemenOnLine website editor Jamal Al-Awadhi.

YemenOnLine sources said the hostages are being held at a hotel that is secured by Houthi rebels.

An Obama administration official said on Sunday that “several” American citizens are being held by the Houthis, apparently in the Houthi stronghold in the capital of Sanaa. The city has been heavily bombed by Saudi Arabia, raising fears for the lives of the Americans in captivity.

The Washington Post reported on Friday that none of the hostages work for the American government and that at least has dual American and Yemini citizenship.

The Islamic State (ISIS) on Sunday took over the city of Ramadi in one of the last provinces held by government forces, but the Pentagon said Iraqi forces, aided by the U.S. Army, “will take it back later.” But it might need Iran’s help.

A call by the Sunni Muslim government for Shi’ite Muslims to help take back the city is feared by many Sunni Muslims as opening the door for Iran to take over Iraq.

The ISIS executed 503 civilians and soldiers, according to an Iraqi officials in the province of Anbar where Ramadi is located. Iraqi special forces fled the city after more than a dozen fighters were killed by suicide car bombers and before others might become more victims of beheading by the ISIS forces.

The fall of Ramadi followed jubilant announcements the past several weeks that the leader of the Islamic State was seriously wounded and that a deputy commander also was eliminated.

But for every ISIS terrorist who is killed, 10 more replacements come out of the woodwork for the funeral.

The fall of Ramadi is a major setback for the American-aided Iraqi government, but the Pentagon played down the loss and only admitted that it gave the ISIS a “propaganda boost” but defeat

“Ramadi has been contested since last summer and ISIL now has the advantage,” Pentagon “just means the coalition will have to support Iraqi forces to take it back later,” according to Pentagon spokeswoman Elissa Smith.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry could not call the fall of Ramadi a loss. The city “simply target of opportunity,” he commented.

Iranian-backed Shi’ite forces already have answered the call of the Sunni Muslim leader of Anbar. A Shi’ite spokesman said Monday that its fighters will charge in to Ramadi and re-take the city, which is located only 100 miles from Baghdad.

If the Shi’ites succeed, it could be a step towards an Iranian takeover of Iraq and an eventual Iranian Shi’ite Caliphate instead of an ISIS Caliphate in the Arab Middle East .

David Petraeus, who commanded US troops in Iraq during 2007-2008, told the Washington Post in an interview:

If Daesh [ISIS] is driven from Iraq and the consequence is that Iranian-backed militias emerge as the most powerful force in the country – eclipsing the Iraqi security forces, much as Hezbollah does in Lebanon – that would be a very harmful outcome for Iraqi stability and sovereignty, not to mention our own national interests in the region.

Sunni Muslim leaders, especially Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf States, might go into action against the prospect of an Iranian-backed Iraq, just as they are doing Yemen where Saudi Arabia-led forces have resumed bombing of Iranian-backed Houthi forces after a five-day humanitarian cease-fire.

Below is a video of armed forces in Ramadi.

We’ve seen this movie before.

A recent exchange between UN representatives in Yemen and Saudi Arabian officials sounded just like the ones that take place between the UN and Israel over Hamas in Gaza.

On Sunday, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Johannes Van Der Klauuw said he was “deeply concerned” by the Saudi-led coalition strikes on northern Yemen. The UN warned that the “indiscriminate bombing of populated areas a violation of international law.”

The UN claims the airstrikes have killed at least 1,400 people and more than half of them were civilians.

Saudi’s military spokesperson, Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri, responded to the UN criticism, saying Iranian-backed Houthi rebels are using hospitals and schools to store weapons, which is why they have been targeted by airstrikes.

On Sunday, the Saudis reportedly also targeted the home of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital. Saleh is unharmed, according to a BBC report.

The Saudis have declared the northern province of Saada, located on the Saudi border, a “military zone”, and on Friday dropped leaflets warning local civilians to get out before the attacks began.

On Saturday, the Sunni coalition said it has conducted 130 airstrikes in 24-hours against Houthi targets in Saada.

Van Der Klauuw warned that the “indiscriminate bombing of populated areas, with or without prior warning, is in contravention of international humanitarian law. Many civilians are effectively trapped in Saada as they are unable to access transport because of the fuel shortage. The target of an entire governorate will put the countless civilians at risk.”

International law of warfare, as understood by the UN, seems to face an inescapable dilemma.

It calls on both sides to not put civilians in harms way. But when one side purposely does, it doesn’t allows the other side any reasonable means of defense or attack against the initial international law-breakers.

So instead we’re left with laughably ineffectual and meaningless statements such as Van der Klaauw’s suggestion, “all parties must avoid using populated areas as launching grounds for attacks.”

From experience, we all know statements like that really stop Iran’s clients and proxies from using their human shields as they attack their enemies.

It’s about time the international laws of war be updated to reflect how the bad guys are actually fighting.

A five-day, Saudi-initiated, humanitarian truce is set to begin today.

It all sounds so familiar.

The Arab League is moving closer to forming a  joint Arab armed force, according to Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri.

“Technical teams are already working to develop a vision to establish a joint Arab force, and this will be ready within the next four months,” he said in a report by Asharq Al-Awsat.

“We need to find a way to return legitimacy and restore stability to Yemen,” Shukri added.

The war in Yemen has galvanized the Arab world against Iran, which is Persian and not part of the Arab League.

The Iranian-backed Houthis received a boost Monday with the announcement of deposed Yemini president Ali Abdullah that he supports Houthi militias

“I was not an ally of Ansar Allah Saleh [the Houthis] but today I am announcing from this place that Yemenis will be supportive of anyone who defends the nation’s resources,” he said a day after Saudi-led forces bombed Saleh’s house in the capital.

Saleh previously has denied affiliation with the Houthis, but Yemeni president Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi has said he believes that fighters aligned with Saleh have joined forces with the rebels.

The war in Yemen is critical for Iran and Saudi Arabia, as well as the United States. A defeat of the Islamic Republic would be a blow to its imperialistic desires, but a victory would increase the threat to dominate the Middle East and control more of its oil supplies.

Iran has accused Saudi Arabia of launching a proxy war “on behalf of the United States, the Zionist regime and their western allies. Iranian senior military adviser to the regime, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, told the regime’s Press TV Monday:

In the past 15 years, attacking the Islamic nations and countries and introducing Islam and Muslims as a new threat have been among the objectives and plans of the Zionists, Americans and Europeans.”

Dominating Islamic countries, appointing dependent puppet rulers and dominating the oil resources of the countries are among other objectives of the wars in the region.

Saudi Arabia continued to attack Yemen on Monday, hours before a five-day humanitarian cease-fire is supposed to go into effect.

The U.S. Navy Farragut destroyer is speeding to the Persian Gulf Wednesday after Iran boarded a Marshall Islands-flagged freighter that the regime said had trespassed into its waters while sailing through the key oil and gas tanker route of the Straits of Hormuz, also known as the Persian Gulf.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy fired shots at the ship, which the Pentagon says was in international waters.

The United States also has ordered an aircraft carrier to remain on standby in another mini-crisis that Iran seems to have created to put pressure on the Obama administration during the new round of talks between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran on an agreement to allow Tehran to continue its nuclear development program.

The Marshall Islands, once an American territory, is independent of the United States but has a “free relationship” with Washington that includes a security pact.

A spokesman for the Maersk shipping company said that the vessel charted by Rickers Shipmanagment was in international waters and was sailing from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with cargo that could range from  “anything from food to machinery to electronics,” he said.

Rickers spokesman Cor Radings wrote in an e-mail to The New York Times he does not know of any previous incident of Iran seizing a ship in open seas. He stated, “I cannot exclude it has happened before, but would believe we have to go back” to World War II.

Last week, Iran caved into American and Western pressure and turned back one of its ships that was approaching Aden, Yemen with a cargo of what was assumed to be weapons for Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

Jeff Rathke, the State Dept.’s tight-lipped spokesman, told reporters Tuesday:

It’s a key concern of the United States to ensure that sea lanes in the region remain open and safe… We remain committed to our regional partners and to maintaining security in the maritime environment.

So what is the United States going to do about it, especially since the United States has what Rathke called a “security compact” with the Marshall Islands?

“Is the U.S. prepared to use force to defend the Marshall Islands?” one reporter asked.

Rathke answered,” “Well, I think that’s premature to jump to that conclusion.”

And did Iran commit an act of piracy or aggression?

Rathke:  “I’m not going to apply an adjective to it right now. We are following the situation very carefully, but I’m not going to label it.

Well, does the United States condemn it?

Rathke:” Well, again, we’re gathering more information. I don’t have a further reaction at this point.

But what about the security compact that Rathke said “gives the U.S. authority and responsibility for security and defense matters that relate to the Marshall Islands, including matters related to vessels flying the Marshallese flag?”

Well, he says, “Certainly, that’s something we’re looking at.”

And could it be, just possibly by a stretch of the imagination, that Iran the seizure and previous threats from Iran to block the Persian Gulf are linked to the proposed nuclear negotiations?

Rathke, of course, “is not going to speculate on what their motives might be.

In case you missed it, Kerry said yesterday:

We are, in fact, closer than ever to the good, comprehensive deal that we have been seeking, and if we can get there, the entire world will be safer.

If finalized and implemented, (an agreement) will close off all of Iran’s possible pathways to the nuclear material required for a nuclear weapon and give the international community the confidence that it needs to know that Iran’s nuclear program is indeed exclusively peaceful.

And if the United States does not agree, Iran will close the Persian Gulf and raise the price of oil as part of its program to make the entire safer.

U.S. officials have acknowledged that Iran-supported Shiite violence in Iraq and Yemen has been influencing the talks between the U.S. and Iran on the latter’s nuclear program, AFP reported.

Secretary of State John Kerry said before his Monday talk with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that he was “confident that Yemen will be mentioned certainly, because Iran is obviously a supportive party to the Houthis.”

Kerry told reporters: “I will certainly urge that everybody do their part to try to reduce the violence and allow the negotiations to begin,” putting the blame for the Yemen situation on “external parties and proxies.”

Iran and the P5+1 group are negotiating against the clock, which ticks its final tock on June 30.

Kerry and Zarif met at the home of Iran’s permanent representative to the UN, after both had addressed a UN conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Kerry told the conference that “the vast majority of the world has come to the conclusion — united around the belief that nuclear weapons should one day be eliminated. Today the race to nuclear arms that once sparked the fear of imminent Armageddon in billions of human beings and hearts, that has been supplanted in a wary but steady march… toward the promise of peace.”

That’s if one doesn’t count the Saudis, whose response to the U.S. treaty talks with Iran has been a vow to get its own nuclear weapons, most likely from Pakistan.

“If we can get there, the entire world will be safer,” Kerry insisted, not addressing the possibility of a Middle East nuclear arms race and war directly resulting from his success.