{"id":7406,"date":"2026-09-25T06:39:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T06:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/conflicts\/7406\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T06:39:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T06:39:18","slug":"saudi-arabia-intercepts-wave-of-houthi-missiles-as-oil-climbs-to-one-week-high-middle-east-and-north-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/conflicts\/7406\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia intercepts wave of Houthi missiles as oil climbs to one-week high | Middle East and north Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saudi Arabia says it intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthis, with the latest attacks pushing oil prices \u2060to a one-week high over fears of spiralling supply disruptions.<\/p>\n

The \u2060Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said the missiles were \u2060aimed at Taif in western Saudi \u200bArabia and the Yanbu area on the Red Sea, with the Houthis<\/a> claiming their attacks were aimed at \u201ca sensitive target\u201d in the capital Riyadh and on Saudi Aramco facilities in Tanbu.<\/p>\n

Oil prices climbed about 3%, but trade was volatile and prices came off session highs after reports the US and Iran discussed reopening the strait of Hormuz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The escalating attacks threaten Saudi Arabia\u2019s \u2060ability to export oil<\/a> through the Red Sea at a time when the strait of Hormuz is disrupted and the kingdom\u2019s east-west pipeline is only now resuming operations after drone strikes earlier \u200bthis month<\/a>. The Houthis declared a naval blockade on the kingdom in July, opening a \u200csecond theatre in the US-Iran war.<\/p>\n

It was \u200cnot clear whether there was any damage or casualties in either Taif or Yanbu, the main alternative route for Saudi oil.<\/p>\n

The Houthis seized the whole Yemeni western coast in a lightning offensive nearly two weeks ago<\/a> that brought them to the shores of the Red Sea\u2019s strategic Bab el-Mandeb waterway.<\/p>\n

\"WhyWhy the civil war in Yemen has world governments on edge<\/p>\n

Yemen\u2019s internationally recognised government pressed world leaders on Thursday for help defeating the militants, saying that their new perch along one of the world\u2019s busiest waterways presents an international economic risk.<\/p>\n

While claiming that their blockade only applies to Saudi shipping<\/a> and there remains no threat to commercial shipping on the Red Sea, the Houths have also warned other nations not to get involved.<\/p>\n

But the vice-president of the internationally recognised government council urged world leaders at the UN general assembly not to trust the Houthis\u2019 assurances \u2013 and to see a bigger picture in the crisis around the strait.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Houthi militias\u2019 use of the safety of navigation as a tool for blackmail threatens not only Yemen. It is taking hostage the entire global economy,\u201d said vice-president, Abdullah Abdulkader al Alimi-Bawzer.<\/p>\n

Arguing that protecting the strait \u201cis the responsibility of every economy that depends on secure supply chains, energy security and freedom of navigation,\u201d he urged the international community to keep weapons and technology from getting into the rebels\u2019 hands.<\/p>\n

The Saudi-backed government\u2019s forces had earlier repelled overnight attacks by the Houthis on a key supply route to Yemen\u2019s third-biggest city Taiz from the southern port city of Aden where the internationally recognised administration is based, government sources said.<\/p>\n

The Houthis \u2060have kept up pressure along a steep, winding mountain pass known as Hejat al-Abd, a lifeline for government forces and the \u200bonly route for goods and residents to reach Taiz and travel \u200babroad. Seizing parts of the road could allow the Houthis to \u200btighten their grip around the city and deal another blow to the government, which has struggled to regain the initiative since losing the western coast.<\/p>\n

Riyadh\u2019s foreign ministry said on Friday that Saudi \u2060Arabia, Turkey and \u2060Pakistan would \u2060hold \u200ban urgent \u2060meeting of their chiefs \u2060of \u200bstaff \u200cto \u200cdiscuss ways to \u200csupport repel the Houthi attacks under their joint \u200cdefence agreement. Under the defence pact, all three countries agreed that an armed attack on any one of them would be treated as an attack on all three.<\/p>\n

Officials in Pakistan are said to be deeply worried<\/a> about being dragged into the never-ending war unfolding across the Middle East.<\/p>\n

With Reuters and the Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia says it intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthis, with the latest attacks pushing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[58,1388],"class_list":["post-7406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran-middle-east","tag-middle-east","tag-middle-east-war"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@conflicts\/117330310836138850","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/conflicts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/conflicts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/conflicts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/conflicts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/conflicts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/conflicts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/conflicts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/conflicts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/conflicts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/conflicts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}