Saudi Arabia vowed Tuesday to respond “firmly” following a series of new attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on its territory, while Tehran denied any involvement in the renewed conflict, which has unfolded amid the broader war in the Middle East between Iran and the United States.
Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen again targeted Saudi Arabia on Monday, accusing Riyadh of carrying out more than 50 airstrikes over the previous 24 hours.
The Houthis have expanded their area of control in recent days following a surprise offensive around the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, which links Europe and Asia. They seized the entire western Yemeni coastline along the Red Sea during fighting with government forces, in clashes that have killed hundreds of people.
Exports of oil through the Red Sea have become increasingly important for Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, as Iran restricts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, hampering a significant portion of exports from the kingdom’s eastern oilfields.
The Houthis have repeatedly claimed attacks on areas of Saudi Arabia in recent months, particularly oil facilities in the kingdom’s south near the Yemeni border. On Monday, they announced a rare drone and missile attack on an airbase in Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said on X that the group’s attacks targeted the provinces of Taiz, Lahj, Al-Jawf, Marib and Hajjah.
Two Yemeni military sources in Aden, where the internationally recognized government is based, said eight government soldiers were killed and others wounded in Houthi missile attacks on positions between Marib and Al-Jawf provinces.
On Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s legitimate government said a series of Houthi attacks using ballistic missiles and drones injured 13 civilians in southern Saudi Arabia on Monday.
Coalition spokesperson Major General Turki Al-Malki said on X that the Houthis had carried out “attacks against civilian targets” in the cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha and Taif using ballistic missiles and drones. The attacks injured 13 civilians with minor to moderate injuries and damaged seven residential homes and two vehicles.
Al-Malki said the coalition’s joint forces command would “deal with these attacks responsibly and firmly.”
Houthi political bureau member Hizam Al-Asad said Yemen’s response would “continue and escalate as long as the enemy Saudi regime continues its aggression against our people.”
Saudi Civil Defense issued several warnings for cities in the south. A resident of Khamis Mushait told AFP that he heard “heavy explosions” that sparked fires that continued “for a long time.”
“Honestly, we were unable to sleep at all,” he added.
Saudi Civil Defense later announced Tuesday that the danger had passed after issuing warnings of potential threats in six cities, including Yanbu, the kingdom’s main oil port on the Red Sea, where millions of barrels are loaded daily.
It said the danger had also passed in Jeddah, Abha, Jazan, AlUla and Taif, after the areas had received emergency warnings amid escalating attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Ministry denied Monday any involvement by the Islamic Republic in the war in Yemen.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said, “Iran does not interfere in Yemeni affairs,” stressing that the Houthis are “completely independent and make decisions according to their own interests.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry also said Saudi Arabia had requested the postponement of a meeting on the Strait of Hormuz that had been scheduled for Monday in Oman between Tehran and Gulf states, citing the developments in Yemen.
Baghaei described the use of the Yemen issue as a reason for the postponement as “a flimsy pretext,” without providing further details.
Despite the tensions, US President Donald Trump said Monday that he was “open” to talks with Iran.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the “failed Iranian nation wants to make a deal, quickly and urgently,” adding that he would decide whether the United States would engage, “which is something we are open to.”
Iranian Major General Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, responded that there would be no negotiations until Iran’s conditions were met, according to the official IRNA news agency.
“Do not be deceived by the US president’s contradictory signals,” Rezaei wrote on X.
In a development linked to the renewed conflict in Yemen and its regional repercussions, the Egyptian presidency announced that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi would receive Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Egypt on Tuesday.
‘Position of Strength’
The meeting on the Strait of Hormuz had been expected to focus on the future of the waterway, a crucial passage for global fuel trade that Iran has kept closed since the start of the US-Israeli war against it on February 28.
Tehran and Muscat have been holding talks for some time over an agreement to manage maritime traffic through the strait. Iran insists that shipping will not return to its previous status and has raised the possibility of imposing a transit service fee, a proposal rejected by the United States and several Gulf states.
Saudi Arabia announced Friday that it had suspended operations of an oil pipeline linking production fields in its eastern regions with its Red Sea coast after it was targeted on Thursday. Riyadh said the attacks were carried out by drones launched from Iraq.
The pipeline has gained additional importance since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as Saudi Arabia uses it to transport oil to the Red Sea coast for export.
The escalating tensions have caused major disruption in global oil markets. Brent crude returned above the symbolic $100-a-barrel threshold last week and continued rising on Monday, surpassing $106.
Yemen returned to the forefront of regional tensions in July, with confrontation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia resuming against the backdrop of the US-Iran war.
The confrontation began after the Houthis accused Riyadh of bombing Sanaa airport to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing there. They subsequently announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia and resumed attacks on its vessels and oil facilities, ending a truce with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government that had been reached in 2022.
The conflict in Yemen began in 2014 when the Houthis seized large areas of the country, most notably the capital, Sanaa. The following year, a Saudi-led military coalition intervened in support of the internationally recognized government.
Source: AFP
