ATHENS: Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militants fired on Saudi oil installations in two ports on the Red Sea coast on Saturday (Jul 25), but the US held back from launching air strikes on Iran itself for the first night in two weeks.
There was no immediate explanation from Washington of why it had abruptly halted a streak of 13 nights of escalating strikes since an interim deal to end hostilities collapsed, in retaliation for Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
“It seems that our dear Iran had a peaceful night last night,” Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said on X.
After the quiet night in Iran, there were also no reports on Saturday of attacks from Iran on its Gulf neighbours, which have also been taking place daily in response to the US attacks.
However, the strikes from Iran’s Houthi allies on Saudi Arabia were a sign that the war, which has disrupted energy supplies from the Gulf, could be spreading to a second major shipping route, and reigniting Yemen’s own civil war.
WAR THREATENS TO SPREAD TO YEMEN
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had successfully struck sites belonging to Saudi state oil giant Aramco in Jizan and Yanbu. Video shared on social media and verified by Reuters showed a large column of smoke rising from the direction of the Aramco refinery in Jizan.
Two Asia-based trading sources said they had been informed of potential damage to fuel and oil storage sites at Jizan. Aramco did not respond to requests for comment.
In Yanbu, two ballistic missiles aimed at oil installations were intercepted by a US-made Patriot battery operated in Saudi Arabia by the Greek military under an agreement with Riyadh, Greek security sources said.
Yanbu is Saudi Arabia’s main Red Sea oil port, where millions of barrels a day are loaded, and has become the main route out for Saudi oil skirting the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blockaded by Iran. Jizan, on the Red Sea close to the Yemeni border, is the site of a refinery with a capacity of 400,000 barrels a day.
In Yemen, the air force of the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government, which has opposed the Houthis for more than a decade, struck Houthi missile and drone launch sites and arms depots in the Marib and al-Jawf provinces, Yemeni officials said.
Earlier, the Saudi-led military alliance said it had bombed Houthi military positions on Friday in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah.
The Yemeni officials said both sides in Yemen’s civil war were mobilising forces along the front.
