Iran-backed Houthis attack Saudi energy facilities, wounding dozens and sending oil prices higher
Fires erupted at some energy facilities, and several people were injured as firefighting and other emergency teams rushed to the scenes to contain the blazes, the Saudi Energy Ministry said.
Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthis attacked energy facilities and cities in US ally Saudi Arabia today (8 September), wounding more than 70 people and underscoring the risk of the Iran conflict escalating into a wider regional war.
The six-month-old conflict in Iran has been marked by a cycle of pauses followed by periodic flare-ups since the US and Israel launched attacks on 28 February aimed at ending Tehran's nuclear programme, halting its ability to attack its neighbours and curtailing its support for regional proxies.
The Houthi attacks came after Iran warned that energy infrastructure across the Gulf, including US oil and gas interests, was vulnerable following a tit-for-tat exchange of attacks on ships in and around the Gulf last weekend. The attacks sent oil prices climbing to more than six-week highs.
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Fires erupted at some energy facilities, and several people were injured as firefighting and other emergency teams rushed to the scenes to contain the blazes, the Saudi Energy Ministry said.
At least 73 people were wounded in attacks on four cities in southern Saudi Arabia, a spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said.
"The coalition will take all necessary operational measures to deter this terrorist militia and resolutely confront its hostile approach," Colonel Turki al-Malki said in a statement on X.
The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen and much of the north, have been launching attacks towards Saudi Arabia since declaring a naval blockade against Riyadh in July, with strikes targeting its vessels in the Red Sea.
Disruptions to shipping through the Red Sea have added to concerns about global oil and gas supplies, with Iran continuing to limit shipping through the critical Strait of Hormuz and commodity vessel traffic slowing again this week.
Maritime exclusion zone
The Islamic Republic has vowed to announce a new restricted zone in the Gulf in the coming days, along with maps of a new shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, although it was unclear when details would emerge.
The new restricted zone would begin from where the US blockade of Iran begins and extend into areas of the Gulf, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told state television on Sunday (6 September), adding that any vessel entering the area would be placed on an Iranian sanctions list.
Today (8 September), Rezaei reissued dual economic and military threats on X.
"In recent days, Washington has received a clear warning from Iran's new missiles. Economic warfare will be met by a maritime exclusion zone across the Persian Gulf to the blockade perimeter. The operational posture toward US warships and bases has been fundamentally recalibrated," Rezaei said.
Rezaei was likely referring to the Qassem Basir ballistic missile that Iranian media reported had been fired at US warships near the Strait of Hormuz. The US military said its warships had evaded any missile attacks.
Despite major US barrages that have degraded Iran's conventional forces and punished its already ailing economy, Tehran has maintained missile and drone capabilities to threaten oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz without its permission and attack Gulf neighbours that host US military bases.
About one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed through the strait before the war, enabling Iran to threaten tankers from Gulf neighbours seeking to export oil and gas.
That has lifted energy prices at a time when the war, which opinion polls show is unpopular in the US, has increased the risks for President Donald Trump's Republican Party in November's congressional elections.
"Oil prices will drop precipitously, like everything else is dropping (but more!), when we win the war with Iran. Three Dollars a gallon, but ultimately, below $2 a gallon. It will all happen quickly, and Iran will never have a Nuclear Weapon," Trump said on social media.
