Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthis escalated sharply after the Iran-aligned group launched fresh attacks aimed at Riyadh, according to Sky TG24. A loud explosion was heard in the Saudi capital as air defenses engaged, and further strikes were reported near a facility belonging to the state oil giant Aramco in the country's east. The Houthi attacks came in retaliation for Saudi strikes on a strategic oil depot on the outskirts of Sana'a, the Yemeni capital.
Why it matters
The exchange marks a new phase in a conflict that had appeared to quiet down, and it lands at a moment when Washington is already trading threats with Tehran. Any sustained Houthi campaign against Saudi oil infrastructure carries consequences well beyond the region, since Aramco facilities sit at the center of global crude supply. Markets reacted immediately, with oil prices climbing in morning trading.
Oil prices rise as markets absorb the news
Crude benchmarks moved higher on the commodity markets. West Texas Intermediate for November delivery traded at 94.54 dollars a barrel, up 0.42 percent, while Brent for December delivery changed hands at 106.13 dollars a barrel, also up 0.42 percent, according to Sky TG24.
The Houthis, a largely Shia armed group that has controlled Sana'a for several years amid Yemen's civil war, take their name from founder Husayn Badr al-Din al-Houthi, who was killed by Yemeni state forces in 2004. Formed in the late 1990s and growing more powerful from the early 2000s, the group is officially known as Ansar Allah, or Partisans of God.
Conflicting accounts of the toll
Brigadier General Yahya Sari, a spokesman for the Houthi military command, said Saudi air and ground forces had carried out more than 100 strikes across Yemen in a 24-hour period, hitting civilian infrastructure and causing casualties. In a statement posted on social media, Sari said Saudi aircraft flew 104 raids and missile attacks against civilian infrastructure in Sana'a and in the provinces of Dhamar, Taiz, Amran, Lahj, Al-Jawf, Marib, Sa'ada and Hodeidah. He said the strikes were launched by F-15 and Typhoon aircraft from the Khamis Mushayt and Ta'if air bases, alongside missile attacks from Najran, and that they killed and wounded civilians.
Sari added that the total number of Saudi air and missile strikes since the latest escalation began has reached 2,281.
On the Saudi side, the civil defense authority reported that falling debris from two intercepted cruise missiles over Riyadh injured four people and caused minor damage to 15 residential buildings. The authority announced the figures on social media.
Trump weighs in on the Houthis and Iran
U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the Houthis in a post on Truth, writing that the group "is behaving very badly." He said he had believed they learned their lesson a year ago when, in his account, they were bombed heavily and the strikes stopped at their request. According to Trump, the Houthis stayed quiet for a long stretch before reemerging, and he suggested this was probably at Iran's request.
Trump also threatened Iran during a campaign rally in Alaska, saying, "We will hit Iran hard." He added, "Wait and see what we will do with Iran, because we have had enough."
Report: Houthis seek longer-range missiles with Chinese parts
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Houthis are attempting to build advanced medium-range ballistic missiles using components from China, citing a report by Conflict Armament Research. According to that report, the Tehran-backed group is trying to produce a version of Iran's Kheibar Shekan precision-guided missile using a selection of Chinese components. The planned missile would have a range of roughly 3,000 kilometers, meaning it could be used to strike Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Israel says it killed a Hamas commander
The spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces announced the killing of Moamen Ahmed Salameh, described as a commander of Hamas's military wing who held hostages in Gaza City. The army said he was killed the previous day in an airstrike in the central Strip. According to the IDF, Salameh had promoted operations against Israeli forces and citizens and had tried to rebuild the organization's capabilities, in what the military described as a systematic violation of the ceasefire.
Britain and Iran trade accusations
Britain's ambassador to Tehran, Hugo Shorter, was summoned to Iran's Foreign Ministry late the previous evening to protest accusations leveled against Tehran by senior British officials, who blame Iran for an incident at the RAF Fairford military base. During the meeting, Alireza Yousefi, director general of the ministry's Western Europe department, rejected the allegations. He said British officials cannot escape their international responsibility for taking part in what he called the military aggression of the U.S. and Israeli regimes against Iran, and for long hosting anti-Iranian terrorist groups while making unfounded accusations against Iran.
Yousefi added that the British government must promptly present documents and evidence for its claims, otherwise Iran will seriously reconsider bilateral relations and the responsibility for the consequences will fall on the British government, according to the IRNA news agency.
What to watch
The immediate question is whether the Houthi strikes on Saudi territory continue and whether Riyadh answers with another round of raids, while oil markets and Washington's standoff with Tehran remain the wider backdrop.
