Fighters supporting Yemen’s internationally recognized Aden-based government gather during a vigil along the shores of the Red Sea in Khokha, in Yemen’s western Hodeidah province, July 20, 2026, calling for a resumption of hostilities with the Houthi group currently controlling the capital Sanaa. (Photo by Khaled ZIAD / AFP via Getty Images)
Khaled Ziad | Afp | Getty Images
Saudi Arabia said Saturday that its coalition forces had struck Houthi militia in Yemen after Iran-backed group claimed having attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea earlier this week.
Saudi air defenses reportedly intercepted two ballistic missiles coming from Yemen.
The latest salvos appear to indicate an escalation of fighting on a second front of the war in Iran.
The Saudi strikes “focused only on legitimate military targets that the Houthi terrorist militia uses to threaten commercial shipping in the Red Sea,” said Gen. Turki Al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-led Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen. statement.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would hold Iran responsible for further attacks by the Houthis, after the militant group said it had struck Saudi oil tankers.
“If they do this again, the United States will hold Iran responsible, as the Houthis are proxies and/or proxies for Iran, and major military sanctions will be imposed on Iran and, of course, the Houthis themselves,” he said in a Truth Social article. job.
The Houthis declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia on Monday, threatening to interrupt the kingdom’s oil exports via the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Al-Malki said the Houthis had committed a “reckless and cowardly act by targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea.”
Reuters cited Greek security sources as saying that air defense systems in Saudi Arabia intercepted two Yemeni ballistic missiles targeting Yanbu oil refineries on Saturday, a day after U.S. forces launched new airstrikes on Iran.
Saudi Civil Defense said so issued several warnings for Yanbu, located on the Red Sea, and later declared that the danger had passed. There were no immediate official reports of damage.
The defense system was run by Greek military personnel, the sources said.
U.S. forces launched airstrikes against Iran Thursday evening and early Friday, the 13th consecutive night of attacks.
The army reportedly attacked a merchant ship that was trying to break the blockade of Iranian ports,
The Associated Press cited U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins as saying U.S. forces disabled the M/T Lavine in the Gulf of Oman after the ship attempted to blockade at least four times.
Trump said he would soon make a decision whether to launch a “massive attack” on Iran.
At the same time, Pakistan is looking for ways to revive stalled U.S.-Iran peace talks, Reuters reported Friday morning, citing three Pakistani sources.
Talk to Axios On Thursday, the president said the proposed strikes would be larger than anything seen in the war so far, and that Iran has not yet “received enough pain.”
– Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report.
