Sana’a, July 26 (dpa/GNA) – Yemen’s Iranian-aligned Houthis, on Saturday claimed they had attacked oil facilities in Saudi Arabia as tensions between both sides are escalating.
A Houthi military spokesman said the group had fired dozens of missiles and drones at installations, affiliated to the Saudi oil giant Aramco in the cities of Jazan and Yanbu.
The attacks were in response to Saudi strikes in the Houthi-controlled coastal city of Hodeidah last night, the spokesman Yahya Saree added in a televised statement.
Saudi authorities did not confirm the alleged Houthi strikes, but earlier Saturday, the Saudi civil defence service said danger warnings were issued in Jazan and Yanbu, without giving further details.
Late on Friday, a Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said it had carried out strikes in Yemen in response to attacks on Saudi vessels. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said the strikes targeted “legitimate military objectives” belonging to the Houthi militia in Hodeidah, linked to threats against shipping in the Red Sea. Al-Maliki said the Hodeidah port, a vital facility for humanitarian aid to strife-ravaged Yemen, was not targeted.
Earlier this week, the Houthis announced they had imposed a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, in response to what the rebel group describes as a long-standing Saudi siege on the Houthi-ruled areas in Yemen.
Saree on Saturday warned that the group will “not hesitate” to take further escalatory steps, depending on the developments of the situation.
A television linked to the Saudi-backed Yemeni government meanwhile reported that warplanes on Saturday, struck Houthi positions in the provinces of Marib and al-Jawf in eastern Yemen. The Yemen TV report did not say if the strikes were launched by the Saudi-led alliance, or the Yemeni government. There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, called for dialogue on Saturday following the escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. There is no military solution to the conflict, Araghchi said in an interview with the state-run daily newspaper Iran. Rather, he said, it must be resolved through dialogue between Saudi Arabia, Yemen and other countries in the region. Although Iran supports the Houthi militia, Araghchi claimed the problems in Yemen were not his country’s fault, but were rooted in long-standing regional conflicts.
The latest escalation opens a new front in the Middle East conflict that has gripped the region since the US-Israeli bombing campaign on Iran in late February. Yemen has been locked in a devastating conflict since the Houthi rebels took over the capital Sana’a and other parts in northern Yemen in late 2014. Since then, Saudi Arabia been leading a coalition to support the Yemeni government against Houthi advances.
In 2023, Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran agreed in a Chinese-brokered deal to restore their ties after a rupture of seven years, kindling hopes for an end to Yemen’s conflict. Alongside Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing showdown with the US, tensions are now rapidly mounting in the Red Sea, raising the prospect of further disruption to another of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes.
The Houthis control much of northern Yemen and large stretches of the country’s Red Sea coastline, giving them the ability to target commercial shipping passing through the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait with missiles and missiles.
While the Strait of Hormuz has been the focal point of repeated attacks on oil tankers and merchant vessels during the conflict with Iran, the Bab al-Mandab is equally a critical shipping choke point. Known as the “Gateway of Tears,” it links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, carrying a large share of maritime trade between Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal.
The waterway has become increasingly important as an alternative route to the Strait of Hormuz, particularly for Saudi oil exports.
Analysts warn that any further escalation between Washington and Tehran, could prompt the Houthis to intensify attacks on shipping and potentially disrupt traffic through the Suez Canal, adding to pressure on global supply chains.
GNA