Fighters supporting the Aden-based internationally-recognised Yemeni government gather during a vigil along the Red Sea shore in Khokha, in Yemen’s western Hodeidah province on July 20, 2026, calling for a resumption of hostilities with the Huthi group currently controlling the capital Sanaa. (Photo by Khaled ZIAD \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Khaled Ziad | Afp | Getty Images<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that its coalition forces struck Houthi militia<\/a> in Yemen after the Iran-backed group claimed<\/a> to have attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea earlier in the week.<\/p>\n Air defenses in Saudi Arabia reportedly intercepted two ballistic missiles from Yemen.<\/p>\n The latest salvos appeared to indicate an escalation in fighting in a second front in the Iran war.<\/p>\n The Saudi strikes “focused solely on legitimate military targets that the terrorist Houthi militia uses to threaten commercial vessels in the Red Sea,” Major General Turki Al-Malki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would hold Iran responsible for further attacks by the Houthis, after the militant group said it had struck the Saudi tankers.<\/p>\n “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,” he said in a Truth Social\u00a0post<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Houthis declared a\u00a0maritime embargo<\/a>\u00a0against Saudi Arabia on Monday,\u00a0threatening<\/a>\u00a0to cut off the kingdom’s oil exports through the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.<\/p>\n Al-Malki said the Houthis had carried out a “reckless and cowardly act by targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea.”<\/p>\n Reuters quoted Greek security sources as saying that air defense systems in Saudi Arabia intercepted two ballistic missiles from Yemen on Saturday targeting oil refineries in Yanbu, a day after U.S. forces launched fresh air strikes on Iran.<\/p>\n Saudi Civil Defence said it issued several warnings<\/a> for Yanbu, located on the Red Sea, and later said the danger had passed. There were no immediate official reports of damage.<\/p>\n The\u00a0defense system\u00a0was operated by Greek military personnel, the sources were quoted as saying.<\/p>\n U.S. forces had launched air strikes on Iran late on Thursday and early on Friday, the 13th consecutive night of attacks.<\/p>\n The military reportedly attacked a merchant vessel that was trying to breach its blockade of Iran’s ports,<\/p>\n The Associated Press quoted U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins as saying that American forces disabled the M\/T Lavine in the Gulf of Oman after the ship attempted to run the blockade at least four times.<\/p>\n Trump said he will soon make a decision on whether to launch a “massive attack” on Iran.<\/p>\n At the same time, Pakistan is looking for ways to restart stalled peace talks between the U.S. and Iran, Reuters reported Friday morning, citing three Pakistani sources.<\/p>\n