Iran-Backed Houthis Strike Saudi Cities, Wounding 73, as U.S. Destroys Iranian Oil Tankers

Iran-backed Houthis launched strikes on Saudi cities on Tuesday, wounding 73 people and igniting fires at oil facilities and utilities in the kingdom’s southern region, in an escalation tied to the Yemen war.

“wounded 73 people”

AP News

Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, a spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, said the attacks hit “civilian and economic facilities” in Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait.

Al-Monitor

The attacks came as U.S. forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers in retaliation for attempted missile attacks on a Navy warship, with U.S. Central Command reporting the destruction in a social media post.

In Yemen’s wider conflict, the flare-up followed weeks of intensifying clashes between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces that shattered a four-year truce in the country’s civil war.

NBC News reported that Brent crude touched $99 per barrel Tuesday as the U.S. struck multiple Iranian oil tankers and Saudi infrastructure attacks paused operations.N

Saudi officials said the kingdom would respond after the overnight strikes, with the Saudi energy ministry reporting fires at some locations and temporary disruption of operations.

Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki called the attacks a “serious escalation” and a “flagrant violation of the kingdom's sovereignty, and a direct threat to the security and safety of its citizens and residents.”

Anadolu Ajansı

In a prerecorded video statement, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the rebels fired “dozens of ballistic missiles and drones” at oil and economic facilities, as well as an air base in southern Saudi Arabia.

Saree blamed Saudi Arabia for the escalation and warned that “every aggression against our country and people will be met with a firm response,” while Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the Houthi media office, said the “time for committing crimes and massacres” had ended.

The New York Times said Saudi authorities reported the attacks injured 73 civilians and that the market was pricing “a more prolonged disruption to shipping flows.”

The attacks raised fears that fighting would squeeze shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a critical route for oil and global trade, at a time when Iran war disruptions had nearly halted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

“threatens to squeeze shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait”

NPR

The NPR report said the fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis threatens to squeeze shipping through Bab al-Mandeb and noted that the Iran war had nearly halted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway that moved about one-fifth of the world’s oil before the war.

Fox News said the Houthi strikes on Aramco facilities threaten to tighten pressure on a second critical oil route as the Middle East war continues to restrict shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Fox News also reported that Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed responsibility, saying the group used “dozens of ballistic missiles and drones” against Aramco facilities, the Jazan industrial zone and a Saudi air base.

Devdiscourse described the broader escalation as involving missile attacks and retaliatory measures, with U.S. Central Command reporting the destruction of five Iranian crude oil carriers in retaliation for Iranian missile attacks on a U.S. Navy warship.