CAIRO — Yemen’s Houthi rebels say they have fired missiles and drones on Saudi Arabia in response to Saudi airstrikes on the strategic Red Sea city of Hodeida.
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the military spokesman for the Iranian-backed rebels, said in a pre-recorded statement that they attacked facilities of Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, in the Red Sea cities of Yanbu and Jizan.
The Houthi attacks came in response to what the rebels said were Saudi airstrikes early on Saturday on Hodeida and Kamaran island, off Yemen’s western coast, which are controlled by the Houthis.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom’s civil defense said an alert sounded multiple times early on Saturday in Yanbu and Jizan.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
CAIRO (AP) — Iran reported no strikes overnight in an apparent break of nearly two weeks of consecutive nights of U.S. attacks, though tension remains high following a recent escalation over control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
"Iran had a peaceful night," Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour posted on X. The U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, unlike the previous 13 nights, it did not announce new strikes.
Sirens sounded multiple times on Saturday in Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu and Jizan provinces, which house crucial oil facilities on the Red Sea, according to the Saudi Civil Defense. It said the alert was for a “potential danger” that was later lifted, without providing further details. Bahrain also sounded missile alerts, but no casualties have been reported.
A tenuous ceasefire that appeared to halt major operations in the conflict that started with American and Israeli attacks on Iran seemed to unravel early July. Iran was accused of striking three ships in the strait. The U.S. responded by striking dozens of targets in Iran, which retaliated by firing at Arab states in the region.
The Strait of Hormuz, a crucial passage for world energy supplies effectively shut down by Iranian attacks, has been at the center of the conflict. The U.S. military fired Friday on a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Oman that was trying to breach its renewed blockade of Iran's ports, while Iran targeted U.S.-allied Gulf Arab countries.
Iran's Houthi allies targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea this week, raising concerns the group may again try to block Red Sea shipping routes. In response, Saudi Arabia struck the port city of Hodeida in Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said early Saturday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called for “diplomacy and dialogue” to solve the Yemen conflict without “military confrontations” in an interview published Saturday in the state-run Iran newspaper.
On Friday, U.S. embassies in the Middle East alerted Americans in the region that options to leave could become more limited, as Iran's Revolutionary Guard advised residents of neighboring countries to stay away from bases with U.S. troops.
The war has so far killed more than 3,400 people in Iran, according to the Iranian Health Ministry. Eighteen U.S. service members, 24 civilians in Israel, and smaller numbers of civilians were reported dead in countries across the region.
In Lebanon, more than 4,000 people have been killed, as well as 38 Israeli troops, after the Iran-backed Hezbollah militants fired at Israel in support of the Islamic Republic.
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Dell'Orto reported from Jerusalem.
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