Houthis Press New Attacks on Saudi Arabia as Hormuz Talks Stall

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have launched a new wave of missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia while consolidating their hold on Yemen's western coast along the Red Sea, Yemeni officials said, as Gulf Arab states postponed planned talks with Iran amid mounting fears the conflict could disrupt global oil supplies.

The Houthis said on Monday they fired dozens of missiles and drones at a military airbase in Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia, targeting aircraft hangars, radar systems, runways and ammunition depots. The group described the strikes as retaliation for Saudi airstrikes in Yemen. Emergency alerts were issued in Khamis Mushait and three other southern Saudi cities. The Saudi-led coalition said 13 civilians were wounded.

Recent Houthi advances, including the capture of Perim Island at the mouth of the Red Sea, have added pressure on Saudi oil exports after an aerial attack on Thursday knocked the kingdom's east-west pipeline offline. Riyadh blamed that attack on Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. The 1,200-kilometre pipeline, built in the 1980s to bypass the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran-Iraq war, remains shut, and Riyadh has not said when operations might resume. Traders said a prolonged shutdown could cut off as much as 4% of global oil supply while the strait is largely blockaded.

Saudi and Yemeni air forces have stepped up bombardment of Houthi targets, including around the historic Red Sea port of Mocha, but officials with Yemen's internationally recognised government said the Houthis retain effective control over almost the entire western coast. "The Houthis are being put under heavy pressure. They in turn are putting more and more pressure on the Saudis, increasing their campaign of missile and drone attacks," one Yemeni official said.

Crude oil prices rose more than 4% on Monday before settling about 1% higher.

The renewed fighting poses a fresh challenge for U.S. President Donald Trump. Three sources said Washington has so far resisted Saudi requests for direct military intervention beyond intelligence support. Trump said over the weekend that he had spoken with the Saudi crown prince and that the Houthis had also contacted Washington urging it to stay out of the conflict. Saudi state media reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met U.S. regional commander Admiral Brad Cooper in Jeddah on Monday.

Saudi Arabia has led a coalition battling the Houthis since 2015, but the conflict had largely quietened under a ceasefire in recent years. Fighting reignited this month, with the Houthis pushing back forces aligned with the internationally recognised government.

Hopes for diplomacy faded as Oman announced that a meeting due on Monday with Iran and Gulf states to discuss negotiations aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz had been postponed. Iran said the postponement was at Saudi Arabia's request. Trump repeated his claim that Iran was eager to make a deal quickly, but Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, dismissed the message as a distraction, saying on X: "No talks until Iran's conditions are met."

Conflicting accounts also circulated about how and when an oil tanker was damaged. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said the Panamanian-flagged tanker El Gaia was hit by sea mines as it passed through a prohibited zone south of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran's Fars news agency. The U.S. military's Central Command immediately called the report false, saying the vessel was struck by an Iranian missile last month and rendered inoperable. The United Nations' International Maritime Organization reported El Gaia was damaged on Saturday but did not say how, adding that two seafarers were missing. The ship's owners in Dubai could not immediately be reached for verification.

The Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important oil shipping lane, has been mostly shut down since the war began on February 28, as Iran has threatened vessels transiting the waterway without its authority. "The IRGC Navy firmly declares that the Strait of Hormuz is closed and still under our smart control," the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement.