Houthis Claim Missile Strike on Saudi Arabia as Tensions Escalate

A Houthi-affiliated group posted on Telegram early Saturday that a Yemeni missile strike had set fire to the Saudi city of Jizan, after Riyadh launched air strikes against Houthi positions in Hodeida the previous Friday.

The claim marks the first time in two weeks that the US or Iran have reported new air strikes in the wider region, even though the US has been carrying out 13 consecutive nights of attacks on Iranian targets.

Iran has also launched drone strikes on US military facilities in the Middle East, while the US continues to impose a blockade on Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Last week, the US Central Command disabled a tanker that had tried to run the blockade, after repeated warnings had failed.

Oil markets reacted strongly. Red Sea shipping fears pushed Brent crude over $100 a barrel early in the week, but the price fell back to around $96 after two Chinese-chartered supertankers successfully passed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The Houthi media said the Saudi targeting of civilian facilities in Hodeida and Kamaran Island constituted a dangerous escalation, vowing that those crimes would not go unanswered.

In the morning, an Omani delegation flew into Tehran to discuss the Hormuz Strait, while President Trump at the White House continued to promise further attacks on Iran and indicated negotiations were ongoing.

The US and the UK are scheduled to hold a conference in London next week to discuss the Strait of Hormuz, with Deputy Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dan Caine expected to attend.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet the US president at the White House, and the 14-point Memorandum of Understanding signed in June to halt hostilities in the Middle East is reportedly under strain after a US declaration that the ceasefire was over following Iranian attacks on ships in the STR.