Iran war spreads to Red Sea and Caspian, Gulf quiet as US forgoes strikes

WAR THREATENS TO SPREAD TO YEMEN

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group struck sites belonging to Saudi state oil company 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, Saudi Arabia’s main Red Sea oil port, has become a key route for Saudi oil skirting the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blockaded. Up to 400,000 barrels can be processed daily at the oil refinery in Jizan, a city on the Red Sea close to the Yemeni border.

SAUDI-LED COALITION STRIKES HODEIDAH

In Yemen, the air force of the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government, which has opposed the Houthis for more than a decade, struck Houthi launch sites and arms depots in the Marib and al-Jawf provinces, Yemeni officials said.

Earlier, the Saudi-led military alliance said it bombed Houthi military positions on Friday in the Red Sea coastal city of Hodeidah, although the coalition said it did not target the port facilities.

The Yemeni officials said both sides in Yemen’s civil war were mobilising forces along the front.

Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition battling the Houthis for more than a decade since the Iran-aligned fighters captured Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.

The civil war, during which hundreds of thousands of people died from fighting and famine, has been paused under a ceasefire since 2022. But that truce broke down this month, with the Houthis effectively joining the wider war their Iranian allies have waged since being attacked by the US and Israel five months ago.

The Houthis have declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia over the past week, and Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said all Saudi oil facilities could be targets. On Thursday, the Houthis struck two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea.

American forces recently resumed their own blockade on Iranian ports. US Central Command, whose coverage area includes the Middle East, said it disabled a ship whose crew attempted to run the blockade despite “repeated warnings” on Friday in the Gulf of Oman.