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Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Saturday they fired missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia in response to a Saudi airstrike on the strategic Red Sea city of Hodeida.
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a spokesman for the Iran-backed rebels’ military, in a previously recorded statement said they had attacked the facilities of Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, in the Red Sea cities of Yanbu and Jizan.
The Houthi attack follows what the rebels said were Saudi airstrikes on Saturday in Hodeida and Kamaran Island, off Yemen’s west coast, which are controlled by the Houthis.
There is no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia. The Civil Defense Department said the announcement was heard several times the next day Saturday in Yanbu and Jizan.
As the Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to disrupt shipping around the world and attack ships in the Red Sea, the US is pushing back. Andrew Chang outlines the risks of further escalation in the region, and how far both sides are willing to go.
Nightly update from Iran
Iran reported no strikes overnight during a nearly two-week hiatus from consecutive nights of US strikes, although the situation has been tense following the recent increase in control of the Strategic Strait of Hormuz.
“Iran had a peaceful night,” Health Ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour told X. US Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, unlike the previous 13 nights, it did not announce new strikes.
Sirens were heard several times on Saturday in the Saudi Arabian provinces of Yanbu and Jizan, which are home to important oil facilities in the Red Sea, according to Saudi Civil Defense. It said the warning was about a “potential danger” that was later removed, without giving further details. Bahrain also sounded missile warnings, but no injuries were reported.
The apparent temporary halt to major operations in the conflict that began with the US-Israeli attack on Iran appeared to be breaking in early July. Iran is accused of crashing three ships in the crisis. The US responded by striking a number of targets in Iran, which retaliated by firing at Arab countries in the region.
The Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy supply route effectively blocked by the Iranian invasion, has been at the center of the conflict. The US military fired on Friday at a merchant ship in the Gulf of Oman that was trying to break its renewed blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran targeted US-allied Gulf Arab states.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called for “talks and discussions” to resolve the conflict in Yemen without “military disagreements” in an interview published Saturday in Iran’s state-run newspaper.
On Friday, US diplomats in the Middle East warned Americans in the region that options to leave may be limited, as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard advised citizens of neighboring countries to stay away from bases and US troops.
The war has so far killed more than 3,400 people in Iran, according to Iran’s Ministry of Health. Eighteen US service members, 24 Israeli citizens, and a small number of civilians were reported dead in countries across the region.
In Lebanon, more than 4,000 people have been killed, along with 38 Israeli soldiers, after Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists opened fire on Israel, which supports the Islamic Republic.
