Iran backed Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a missile attack on Saudi Arabia, hours after warning they would respond to recent Saudi military operations as tensions across the Middle East continue to intensify.
According to the Houthis, the missile strike targeted the southern Saudi city of Jizan along the Red Sea coast, with the group claiming the attack triggered fires in the area. The announcement was made through the group’s Ansarollah media channel on Telegram early Saturday.
Saudi authorities had not officially confirmed the reported strike at the time of filing this report. However, the kingdom’s civil defence agency issued brief safety alerts to residents of Jizan and Yanbu, warning of a possible threat before later withdrawing the notices. Similar alerts have previously been issued during missile or drone attacks on Saudi territory.
The latest development follows Saudi airstrikes carried out on Friday against Houthi military positions in Yemen’s Hodeida province. The Saudi led coalition said the operation targeted facilities posing a threat to commercial shipping in the Red Sea after the rebels announced a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia and claimed attacks on the country’s vessels.
A Yemeni security source said the strikes hit a naval base in the port city of Hodeida as well as a military camp located on Kamaran Island. Additional targets reportedly included a telecommunications facility close to Hodeida Port and a naval installation at Ras al Kathib.
Houthi controlled Al Masirah television reported that two civilians were injured during the strikes, including a worker in Hodeida and a woman on Kamaran Island. The broadcaster also confirmed that a telecommunications building sustained damage.
Earlier in the week, the Houthis warned commercial vessels through a radio message that ships linked to Saudi Arabia would become targets if they failed to comply with the group’s newly declared blockade.
Saudi state media also confirmed that one Saudi owned vessel, NCC MASA, was struck while sailing through the Red Sea. Authorities said the attack caused only minor damage to the ship’s hull and that it was able to continue its journey without major disruption.
The growing confrontation has opened another front in the wider regional conflict that intensified following the United States and Israel’s strikes on Iran earlier this year. It also comes as Iran continues to maintain a blockade around the Strait of Hormuz, leaving Saudi Arabia increasingly dependent on the Red Sea as a key export route for its crude oil.
Shipping through the Red Sea has become especially important for the kingdom in recent months. Industry data shows that nearly all of Saudi Arabia’s seaborne crude exports in April and May departed through the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The route also accounted for the overwhelming majority of the country’s oil shipments in June and July.
The Houthis have been engaged in a prolonged conflict with Yemen’s internationally recognised government since 2014, a war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Although a ceasefire reached in 2022 officially expired, it has largely held until recent events. The latest exchange of attacks has renewed fears that the fragile calm could collapse, raising concerns over further instability in Yemen and across the wider Middle East.
