Yemen
Saudi Arabia Prepares Yemen Offensive to Break Blockade
Saudi Arabia is preparing a major offensive against the Houthis by sea and possibly by land in central Yemen, aiming to break a blockade squeezing its oil exports through the southern Red Sea, according to the Guardian, which reports Saudi forces withdrawing from eastern Yemen and massing near al-Bayda, a governorate the Houthis captured in 2020 and 2021, while assembling a 14-nation maritime coalition, including Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan, and Djibouti, to protect Red Sea shipping. Any ground push would likely rely on Saudi-backed Yemeni forces supported by Saudi air power and intelligence, consistent with Riyadh's approach throughout the war, rather than a direct invasion by regular Saudi army divisions.That coalition-building reflects a deliberate strategy: by recruiting Arab and Muslim-majority partners rather than leaning solely on Western naval missions such as the US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian, Riyadh can present anti-Houthi containment as a regionally led response.The current standoff is distinct…
Saudi Arabia Is Being Pulled Back Into Yemen’s War
Saudi Arabia spent years trying to extract itself from the war in Yemen. That strategy is now under mounting pressure.Since mid-July, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have resumed attacks on Saudi territory and shipping, declared a naval blockade against the kingdom and targeted oil infrastructure along the Red Sea coast. Forces aligned with Saudi Arabia have struck Houthi positions inside Yemen, while both sides have reportedly mobilized along front lines largely frozen since the 2022 truce. Reuters described Yemen last week as edging toward renewed war.The U.N.-brokered truce halted most major Saudi-Houthi fighting in 2022. Although it formally expired that October, large-scale cross-border warfare did not resume, and subsequent Saudi engagement with the Houthis focused on preventing another open conflict. The wider Iran war is now eroding that relative calm.The confrontation intensified on July 20, when the Houthis declared a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia. Days later, the group claimed attacks on…
Saudi Oil Facilities Targeted Twice in One Day
Yemen's Houthi movement said Monday it had targeted crude oil supply and transport sites linking eastern Saudi Arabia to the Yanbu export hub, with spokesman Yahya Saree tying the operation, according to Reuters, to what he described as Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni airspace. Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and no independent damage assessment of the claim has been made public.Saudi Arabia said, according to Daily Sabah, that its air defenses intercepted and destroyed drones launched from Iraq the same day, aimed at oil facilities in the kingdom's Eastern Province and Riyadh. The Defense Ministry attributed the drones to Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq, and the Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, reaffirming its right to respond to the sources of "the aggression" and calling on Baghdad to prevent Iraqi territory from being used as a launchpad against the kingdom.Whether the two incidents were connected…
Houthis Expand Attacks to Saudi Oil Corridor
Yemen's Houthis said they launched drones on July 27 at crude oil supply and transportation sites linking eastern Saudi Arabia with Yanbu, extending their campaign beyond port facilities and shipping lanes toward infrastructure feeding the kingdom's East-West oil corridor.Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the operation targeted several "sensitive" points used to supply and transport crude toward the Red Sea city, framing it as retaliation for alleged Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni airspace. Saudi authorities had not confirmed damage from the claimed operation, which could not be independently verified.The target set matters because Yanbu sits at the western end of Saudi Arabia's 1,201-kilometer East-West Pipeline, or Petroline. The system carries crude from the oil-producing Eastern Province to the Red Sea, giving Saudi Arabia an alternative to exports through the Strait of Hormuz at a time when regional conflict has severely disrupted traffic through the chokepoint.The Houthis have already demonstrated an…
Gulf Oil Faces a Two-Strait Trap
The thesis works with two qualifications: the Gulf is not completely sealed because the UAE retains its Fujairah outlet, and American energy companies may benefit while the United States as a whole absorbs higher prices and military costs.The Houthi missile and drone attack claimed against Saudi Aramco facilities in Jizan and Yanbu on July 25 did more than reopen the Saudi-Yemeni front. It placed Saudi Arabia’s principal escape route from the Strait of Hormuz under threat as Iran again restricts the Gulf’s only maritime exit.Reuters verified smoke near the Jizan refinery, although its cause and any damage remain unclear. Greek officials said a Patriot battery intercepted two missiles near Yanbu. The attack did not close Saudi exports. It showed how one regional war has joined two previously separate chokepoint crises.The bypass becomes a targetUnder normal conditions, around 20 million barrels a day of crude and petroleum products – roughly one-fifth…
Houthis Claim Aramco Strike as Satellite Data Show Fires
Yemen's Houthi movement said it struck a Saudi Aramco oil facility in Jizan overnight with missiles and drones, claiming the attack sparked fires at the site. Satellite fire-detection data later showed multiple thermal hotspots within the industrial complex, although Saudi authorities and Aramco had not confirmed the extent of any damage. Saudi authorities had not publicly confirmed that the Aramco facility was struck at the time of publication, and Aramco had not commented. NASA's FIRMS/VIIRS satellite monitoring system detected fire activity at the Jizan site, according to reporting by the Türkiye Today, which cited the imagery alongside social-media video showing plumes of black smoke over the complex. The satellite detections confirm that fires were present within the industrial complex. They do not establish what caused them or whether they resulted from the attack claimed by the Houthis. Türkiye Today also reported that Saudi Civil Defense briefly issued public safety warnings…
