Thirteen civilians were wounded in attacks on three Saudi cities as Houthi advances, damage to a critical Saudi oil pipeline and new incidents around the Strait of Hormuz intensified pressure on two of the world’s most important energy corridors.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Saudi Arabia is warning of a firm response after a new wave of Houthi missile and drone attacks wounded 13 civilians in three cities, while escalating violence around Yemen, the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz places increasing pressure on regional security and global oil supplies.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said Tuesday that attacks on Khamis Mushait, Abha and Taif also damaged seven homes and two vehicles. The Houthis acknowledged targeting Khamis Mushait, saying their objective was a Saudi military installation.
Khamis Mushait and Abha are both within roughly 75 miles of Yemen, while Taif lies considerably farther north.
Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said Saudi Arabia would deal firmly with the continuing attacks as fighting between the Houthis and forces backed by Riyadh intensifies in Yemen. Reuters confirmed that 13 civilians were wounded in the latest barrage and that the Houthis said they targeted a military base at Khamis Mushait.
The confrontation has escalated rapidly since July, when the Iran-aligned Houthis declared a blockade of Saudi Red Sea ports and renewed attacks against the kingdom and Saudi-linked shipping.
Houthi forces have since made significant territorial gains along Yemen’s western coastline and around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the narrow passage connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. Reuters reported Tuesday that renewed fighting has driven more than 100,000 Yemenis from their homes as the Houthis expanded their hold along the coast.
The violence is now producing retaliation inside Yemen.
A Houthi official told The Associated Press that Saudi aircraft had begun striking targets in Yemen and claimed three people, including two children, were killed in attacks in Taiz province. Those casualty claims have not been independently verified.
The widening conflict has placed additional strain on diplomatic efforts to keep the Red Sea and Gulf shipping lanes open.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Tuesday in Cairo and stressed the need to protect freedom of navigation through both the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The Egyptian presidency said Sisi expressed support for Saudi Arabia’s efforts to protect its national security and stability amid what it described as the “Yemen crisis.” The leaders also discussed the importance of restoring secure shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The concern extends far beyond the Saudi-Yemeni conflict because the two waterways sit on either side of some of the world’s most important oil-producing countries.
Traffic through Hormuz has fallen dramatically amid the continuing regional conflict. Reuters reported Tuesday that only four commodity vessels transited the strait Monday, compared with a prewar average of roughly 125 vessel transits per day.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia’s principal alternative to Hormuz has been badly damaged.
A drone attack last week struck the kingdom’s East-West Pipeline, which carries crude from Saudi Arabia’s eastern oil-producing region across the country to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
The pipeline had become particularly important because it allows Saudi oil to bypass Hormuz entirely.
It had recently been moving approximately 2.6 million to 4 million barrels per day and could remain largely out of operation for three to five weeks while repairs are completed, according to reporting on the damage.
The attack has been attributed to Iran-backed militias operating from Iraq rather than to the Houthis, adding another front to the pressure surrounding Saudi energy infrastructure.
The disruption means Saudi Arabia has fewer options for routing crude around Hormuz just as Houthi advances are also increasing risks around Bab el-Mandeb.
That combination has pushed energy prices higher.
Brent crude climbed toward $110 a barrel Monday before settling at $105.68, as traders weighed Saudi pipeline damage, declining Hormuz traffic and the possibility of further attacks on energy infrastructure.
American drivers are also seeing the effects of tightening global fuel supplies.
AAA reported that the national average for diesel reached $6.2301 per gallon Monday before climbing to $6.2694 Tuesday, the highest national diesel average in the organization’s records. Regular gasoline averaged approximately $4.32 Monday and rose to about $4.33 Tuesday.
The pressure on shipping became more visible Tuesday after Oman reported an attack involving the Panama-flagged tanker El Gaia near the Musandam Governorate.
Oman’s Maritime Security Center said the vessel suffered an engine-room fire and had to be evacuated after an incident approximately 1.3 miles northeast of Musandam.
An Omani naval vessel rescued 23 crew members. Two remained missing as the damaged tanker was towed toward an Omani port.
Iran and the United States have offered sharply different accounts of what happened to the vessel.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said El Gaia struck a mine.
U.S. Central Command rejected that explanation and accused Iran of attacking the vessel.
CENTCOM said El Gaia had previously been struck by an Iranian missile and left disabled and that Iran struck the tanker again with a drone over the weekend. The U.S. military characterized Tehran’s mine account as false and accused the IRGC of using the claim to intimidate commercial vessels.
The incident came as the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported another vessel had been hit in the Strait of Hormuz shortly before midnight Monday.
UKMTO said no damage or environmental impact was reported from the latest incident. It was the third reported attack on a vessel in or around the strait since Thursday.
The series of incidents has heightened concern among shipping companies already facing drastically reduced traffic through the waterway. Before the current conflict, roughly one-fifth of global oil shipments passed through Hormuz.
Kuwait, meanwhile, condemned the Houthi attacks inside Saudi Arabia and expressed what its Foreign Ministry called “absolute solidarity with the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
The ministry described the strikes as “a breach of international law.”
The Houthis have said their attack against Khamis Mushait was directed at military targets, including aircraft facilities and other installations. Saudi officials said civilians and civilian property were nevertheless hit.
Turkey is separately calling for the broader cycle of Gulf attacks to end.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Tuesday that continuing attacks were undermining attempts to resolve the conflict between Iran and the United States.
Speaking alongside his Azerbaijani counterpart in Baku, Fidan said Turkey considers Iranian stability important and wants the Strait of Hormuz restored to its prewar status, with vessels again able to transit freely.
He said Ankara was actively working on possible ways to resolve the dispute over the shipping lane and argued that reciprocal attacks must stop if diplomacy is to regain momentum.
Those diplomatic prospects remain uncertain after a senior Iranian official publicly ruled out negotiations under current conditions.
“Don’t get distracted by the US president’s mixed signals—from ‘no negotiations’ to ‘we’re ready to talk,’” Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei said Monday.
“The stakes around oil and the straits have changed. Damage control won’t stop what’s coming,” he added.
“No talks until Iran’s conditions are met. Period!”
The comments came after President Donald Trump said Iran wanted an agreement and that Washington would decide whether to engage.
“The failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly. I will determine whether or not the U.S.A. will choose to engage – The concept of which we are open to,” Trump said Monday.
Iranian officials have previously demanded sanctions relief, an end to the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, access to frozen assets and other concessions as part of any renewed arrangement with Washington. The Trump administration has not publicly agreed to those conditions.
The dispute is unfolding as pressure builds simultaneously at both entrances to the region’s major oil-export system.
To the east, Hormuz traffic has fallen sharply amid attacks, military operations and uncertainty over safe passage.
To the west, Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline — designed precisely to bypass Hormuz — has been badly damaged, while Houthi forces have expanded around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and continued attacks inside Saudi Arabia.
That combination leaves Saudi Arabia and neighboring producers facing risks along both major routes for moving energy exports toward global markets.
Saudi Arabia has now signaled it intends to respond more forcefully to the latest Houthi attacks, while Egypt, Kuwait and Turkey are calling for regional security and freedom of navigation.
But with fighting escalating in Yemen, tanker attacks continuing around Hormuz, a major Saudi pipeline impaired and Tehran insisting its conditions must be met before negotiations resume, the region’s two critical maritime chokepoints are becoming increasingly entangled in the same widening conflict.
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