Houthi forces in Yemen announced on Sunday they launched missile and drone attacks against two Saudi Arabian oil facilities located in the coastal cities of Jizan and Yanbu. A Houthi military spokesman stated the action was in retaliation for recent Saudi-led airstrikes on the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeidah.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the strikes targeting facilities belonging to the state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco. Following the claimed attack in Jizan, a large column of smoke was observed rising from the area. In Yanbu, a major Red Sea export terminal, officials reported that two ballistic missiles were intercepted by a Patriot missile defense battery operated by the Greek military under an agreement with Riyadh. Saudi officials have not yet issued a public comment on the extent of any damage.
The events follow airstrikes conducted by Saudi Arabia on Hodeidah on Friday. This exchange marks an escalation in a conflict where a truce, first brokered in 2022, had collapsed earlier this month. The Houthi movement, which controls the capital, Sanaa, and much of western Yemen, had previously declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia last Monday.
These developments in the Red Sea region occur as United States military actions against Iran have paused. U.S. forces had conducted 13 consecutive nights of airstrikes on Iran beginning July 11, but no new strikes have been reported since Friday.
U.S. President Donald Trump has not provided a specific reason for the halt in military operations. A senior administration official, speaking to the Reuters news agency, said that Trump’s “preference is diplomacy, but he has shown Iran what will happen if they fail to come to the table in a serious way.”
On Friday, President Trump said there was ongoing communication with Tehran. “They are talking to us right now; they’d love to make a deal,” he stated. Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera confirmed that Iranian officials acknowledged an exchange of messages through mediators but noted that “fundamental differences” and mistrust remained between the two sides.
The wider regional conflict has also seen involvement related to the war in Ukraine. Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday accused Ukraine of conducting a strike on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea, which it said killed one sailor and wounded another. The ministry summoned Kyiv’s representative in Tehran to condemn the action.
In a series of posts on the social media platform X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s forces had achieved “very strong results” with long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea. Zelenskyy also alleged that Russia had provided Iran with satellite surveillance of U.S. military facilities and Gulf states to assist in identifying targets for missile and drone attacks.
