Houthi Missile Strike on Saudi Arabia Opens Second Front as US Pauses Iran Bombing Campaign — BigGo Finance
Yemen’s Houthi militants launched a missile attack on southern Saudi Arabia early Saturday, according to the group’s media arm, opening a second front in a widening Middle East conflict that has already paralyzed the Strait of Hormuz and sent global oil prices surging toward $100 a barrel. The strike came as the United States appeared to pause its thirteen-night bombing campaign against Iran, with President Donald Trump signaling he is in no rush to strike a deal.
Saudi authorities issued emergency alerts for Jazan province and the port city of Yanbu around 6:10 a.m. local time, urging residents to seek shelter immediately. The government later lifted the alert for Jazan, stating on social media platform X that “the danger has passed.” The Houthi group, which controls much of northern and western Yemen, claimed on Telegram that it targeted the Saudi city of Jizan, located near the Red Sea coast and home to a major Aramco refinery just across the border from Yemen.
The escalation follows a Houthi declaration days earlier that it would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabian ports, vowing to attack any vessels attempting to enter or exit. The group made good on that threat Thursday, striking two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. One of the vessels, the Encelia, issued a distress call after being hit by a missile near the Saudi port of Jizan, with Saudi state media reporting the strike caused a fire at the bow. The attacks effectively closed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — the narrow chokepoint linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden — to Saudi-linked shipping.
“If they do this again, the U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves,” Trump wrote on social media. He later told Axios he was considering re-launching major combat operations against Iran and was “close to a decision,” adding that Tehran “hasn’t received enough pain yet.”
By Friday night, however, the U.S. military had not announced any new strikes on Iran, marking the first pause since the nightly bombing campaign began around July 10. Iranian state media also reported no fresh attacks, nor did they claim any retaliatory strikes against American bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, or elsewhere. The reason for the lull remains unclear, though it may signal a temporary operational pause rather than a permanent cessation.
Speaking at the White House correspondents’ dinner Friday, Trump said Iran “would love to make a deal,” but insisted “it’s not the time yet.” He confirmed that negotiations are ongoing but declined to offer details on whether talks involve intermediaries such as Pakistan and Qatar, which have played mediation roles in previous rounds.
The twin disruptions of the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait represent a body blow to global energy markets. The two waterways together account for roughly 25% of the world’s crude oil supply. Iran has effectively sealed Hormuz since the conflict began, deploying mines and attacking vessels attempting to transit the narrow passage. Saudi Arabia had been diverting millions of barrels per day via pipeline to its Red Sea port at Yanbu to bypass the Iranian blockade, but the Houthi attacks now threaten that alternative route as well.
▲ Daily transit volumes of petroleum and other liquids through the world’s maritime oil chokepoints in the first half of 2025 — the last full baseline before the current war. The Strait of Hormuz moved 20.9 million barrels a day and the Bab el-Mandeb 4.2 million, while the Cape of Good Hope, the only route that avoids both, carried 9.1 million. (Map: U.S. Energy Information Administration, public domain.)
That pipeline is not a marginal workaround. Saudi Aramco’s East-West pipeline runs roughly 1,200 kilometers from the Abqaiq processing center near the Persian Gulf to Yanbu on the Red Sea, and at 5 million barrels per day of nameplate capacity — briefly lifted to 7 million b/d in 2019, when Aramco converted parallel natural gas liquids lines to carry crude — it is by far the largest single route out of the Persian Gulf that avoids the strait. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates the Saudi and Emirati bypass pipelines together hold about 4.7 million b/d of capacity that could be freed up to route around Hormuz. But only the Emirati line, which terminates at Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman, delivers crude directly to open water. Every barrel Saudi Arabia sends west must still exit through the Red Sea — either south past the Bab el-Mandeb or north through the Suez Canal and the 2.5 million b/d SUMED pipeline. The emergency alert Saudi authorities issued Saturday covered Jazan and Yanbu: the terminus of the bypass itself.
Route avoiding the Strait of HormuzCapacityExits intoStatusSaudi East-West pipeline (Abqaiq to Yanbu)5.0 million b/d; 7.0 million b/d with NGL lines convertedRed SeaMissile alert issued for Yanbu on SaturdayUAE Abu Dhabi pipeline (to Fujairah)1.8 million b/dGulf of OmanClear of both chokepointsIran Goreh-Jask pipeline~0.3 million b/d effectiveGulf of OmanNo cargoes loaded since September 2024Suez Canal and SUMED pipeline, northboundSUMED 2.5 million b/dMediterraneanReachable only via the Red SeaCape of Good Hope, open sea routeNo physical limitAtlanticOnly route avoiding both straits
Note: The EIA puts roughly 4.7 million b/d of the Saudi and Emirati pipeline capacity as genuinely spare and available for rerouting, because the lines already carry routine volumes. Capacity figures and transit volumes are from the EIA’s World Oil Transit Chokepoints report, last updated March 3, 2026.
Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, pierced $100 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time since May and settled at $96.78 on Friday, still up approximately 27% over the past two weeks. Goldman Sachs warned in a research note that if disruptions in the Bab el-Mandeb persist, Brent could surge past $120 a barrel in the fourth quarter and average $100 next year.
The logistical complications are severe. Fully laden Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) are too deep to transit the Suez Canal directly. They must offload part of their cargo via Egypt’s SUMED pipeline before crossing the canal in a lighter state, then reload the crude on the Mediterranean side — a process that adds weeks to delivery times and millions of dollars in additional fuel, insurance, and charter costs per voyage.
Route DisruptionEstimated ImpactStrait of Hormuz closure~20% of global oil transit halted; only 1 tanker crossed Thursday, lowest since May 7Bab el-Mandeb targeting~12% of global trade affected; Saudi forced to reroute Asia-bound crude around AfricaAdditional voyage (Africa route)30-34 extra days; millions in added costs per tankerBrent crude price reactionSurged ~27% in two weeks; briefly topped $100/bbl
Iran has also escalated its own attacks. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed Friday that it struck a U.S. base in Udairi, Kuwait, destroying three ammunition and storage sheds, and damaged a watchtower for the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. Both Bahrain and Jordan said they intercepted aerial attacks from Iran. In the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, security officials reported that U.S.-led forces shot down five explosive-laden drones near the airport where American military advisers are based.
The human toll of the five-month war continues to mount. Iran’s Health Ministry reported that 3,434 people have been killed since the conflict began in late February. The International Maritime Organization said at least 6,000 seafarers are stranded on approximately 400 vessels around the Strait of Hormuz, with some abandoned by their ship owners and left “to fend for themselves without food, water, fuel, medical care, electricity or means to communicate with their families,” according to the UN human rights office.
A Reuters report citing four sources revealed that Iran flew IRGC commanders, military advisers, and missile and drone equipment into Yemen on July 13, days before the Houthis announced their blockade. One source said the IRGC personnel were dispatched “to support Houthi operations and provide training on new missile systems,” adding that Iran also sent gold to fund the group’s activities. The Houthis denied the report, with a media official calling it “false and fabricated.”
The Saudi-led coalition, meanwhile, launched military operations Friday against Houthi targets in Hodeida, the key Red Sea port from which the group has staged numerous attacks on commercial shipping. The coalition said the strikes were in response to Houthi assaults on merchant vessels over the past week.
Domestically, Trump faces mounting pressure. The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday directing the president to halt military action against Iran, the latest in a series of congressional rebukes. The Senate later blocked a similar measure. High oil prices are stoking inflation fears, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield above 4.7% and the 30-year yield near 5.2%, while U.S. gasoline prices have ticked up to an average of $4.11 a gallon, according to AAA.
Military analysts warn that the pace of operations is depleting U.S. munitions stockpiles at an alarming rate. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated that the U.S. has already consumed over 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles, 1,100 JASSM missiles, and more than 1,000 Patriot interceptors, with some precision munition inventories drawn down by 45% to 50%. Replenishment could take one to four years, raising concerns about U.S. readiness for contingencies in the Pacific.
The Houthis have survived years of Saudi-led bombardment since seizing the capital Sanaa in 2014 and continue to control most of Yemen’s populated areas. While Iran is their primary financial and military backer, analysts note the group maintains greater autonomy than other Tehran-aligned proxies such as Hezbollah. A fragile ceasefire between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia has largely collapsed as the U.S.-Iran war has intensified.
