Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels stated Saturday they launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia in retaliation for Saudi airstrikes on the strategic Red Sea city of Hodeida. The move represents another escalation over crucial shipping lanes in the Middle East, occurring while the United States and Iran are in a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz.
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesman, announced in a prerecorded statement that the rebels targeted facilities belonging to Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, in the Red Sea cities of Yanbu and Jizan. Saudi Arabia’s civil defense confirmed that alerts sounded multiple times early Saturday in both cities, though the Kingdom has not yet provided further comment.
The rising tensions in the Red Sea pose a threat to global shipping, as the Houthis have previously declared intentions to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Saudi-linked vessels. This strait, situated at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is a critical chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, through which approximately 12% of global trade, including a quarter of container traffic, passes.
The Houthis had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea earlier in the week. In response, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen stated early Saturday that it had struck Hodeida. The coalition said its strikes late Friday hit “legitimate military targets” in Hodeida province, which were “linked to threats to commercial vessels in the Red Sea,” and denied hitting the port itself. However, a spokesman for the Houthi-run health ministry, Anees al-Asbahi, reported that the strikes hit the city’s port and the state-run telecommunications corporation, injuring two people.
Amidst these developments, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, called for “diplomacy and dialogue” to resolve the Yemen conflict without “military confrontations,” in an interview published Saturday in the state-run Iran newspaper. A spokesperson for Iran’s Health Ministry, Hossein Kermanpour, posted on X that Iran had experienced a “peaceful night.”
U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Notably, for the first time in 13 nights, it did not announce new strikes.
Tensions have been high following a recent escalation between the U.S. and Iran. After the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February, a fragile ceasefire that had paused major operations for several weeks appeared to unravel this month. The U.S. accused Iran of attacking three ships in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting U.S. retaliatory strikes on dozens of targets in Iran. Iran, in turn, fired at U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states.
The Strait of Hormuz has been a focal point of the conflict. On Friday, the U.S. military fired on a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Oman that was attempting to breach its renewed blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran targeted U.S.-allied nations in the region.
The conflict has resulted in significant casualties. According to the Iranian Health Ministry, over 3,400 people have died in Iran. In addition, 18 U.S. service members, 24 civilians in Israel, and smaller numbers of civilians in other countries across the region have been reported dead. In Lebanon, more than 4,000 people have been killed, along with 38 Israeli troops, following attacks by Iran-backed Hezbollah militants on Israel in support of Iran.
