RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabia threatened retaliation on Tuesday after Yemen’s Houthis launched missiles at oil facilities, injuring dozens in the rebels’ heaviest attack in years.
The overnight strikes caused temporary shutdowns at oil sites and left 73 people wounded, Saudi authorities said. The attack reminds of the danger the Iran-backed group poses across the southern Saudi border.
Fighting between the Tehran-supported Houthis and Saudi forces reignited after a four-year truce collapsed in July. The collapse came months into the Middle East war between the United States and Iran.
Hundreds have died in recent clashes between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces around the Bab al-Mandab strait. The strait forms the mouth of the vital Red Sea shipping route.
Oil prices under pressure
The Houthi attacks on energy facilities will likely push oil prices higher. Prices have spiked since Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, slowing Gulf shipments to a trickle.
Saudi Arabia will “take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty”, a foreign ministry statement said. The kingdom demanded the Houthis halt strikes on facilities and stop attacking Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.
The Houthis fired dozens of ballistic missiles, their military spokesman confirmed.
Rebels hit Abha International Airport, King Khalid air base and Aramco facilities in Abha and Jizan, according to official Houthi media.
Major refinery struck
Jizan sits on the Red Sea coast just north of Saudi’s Yemen border. The city hosts one of the country’s biggest oil refineries with a capacity of 400 000 barrels per day.
Maritime tracking company Kpler said the facility was offline for several weeks until at least 20 August following earlier Houthi attacks.
The latest strikes came after the rebels accused Riyadh on Monday of a prison attack that killed 11 people. The assault left 20 inmates missing, according to the rebels’ Al Masirah TV channel.
Images from the scene showed rescuers digging in rubble with bare hands and carrying bodies wrapped in blankets.
Escalating tensions
The Houthis triggered a return to hostilities in Yemen’s civil war in July. They allowed an Iranian plane to land in defiance of Saudi control of Yemeni airspace.
The rebels have also attacked Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. The route became vital after Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz as part of its war with the United States.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis since 2015 said it would respond to the latest attacks.
The coalition’s Joint Forces Command will “take all necessary measures and actions to respond to the sources of the threat and neutralise its danger”, a statement said.
An energy ministry source told the Saudi Press Agency that several facilities in the south were targeted.
“The attacks caused fires at several locations, leading to a temporary halt in some operations” and injuries, the source said.
Testing Saudi’s red line
Andreas Krieg, a Gulf expert from King’s College London, said the Houthi attacks create an uncomfortable dilemma for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The crown prince serves as Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler.
After four years of trying to withdraw from the Yemen conflict, “restraint now carries the risk of allowing the Houthis to dictate the spiral of escalation”, he said.
“Saudi Arabia’s immediate response is likely to remain measured, involving airstrikes, intelligence support, and the reinforcement of Yemeni government forces,” Krieg added.
“However, should attacks on Saudi cities persist, maintaining this restraint will become increasingly difficult. In effect, the Houthis are testing exactly where Riyadh’s true red line now lies.”
