Saudi Strikes Yemen as Houthis Advance, Oil Supply Fears Grow

Saudi warplanes carried out airstrikes across Yemen, the Houthi movement said, as the Iran-backed group consolidated territorial gains following a rapid advance along the Red Sea coast. The Houthis have seized towns and islands in the Bab el-Mandeb strait in recent days, releasing video of fighters capturing armoured vehicles from Saudi-backed forces.

The expansion of the conflict into a new front has raised concerns about global energy supplies. The United States has tightened travel restrictions for its government employees in Saudi Arabia, barring them from travelling within 20 miles of the Yemeni border.

A Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, claimed the group had shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet, though no evidence was presented and Saudi officials did not immediately respond. Saree also said Saudi Arabia had conducted as many as 450 airstrikes on Yemen this week. Officials in the Saudi-backed Yemeni government have acknowledged that their forces and Saudi Arabia were conducting airstrikes on Houthi positions, but Riyadh has not confirmed them.

Riyadh said its air defences intercepted a Houthi drone south of Mecca on Tuesday before it entered prohibited airspace over the holy city, calling the attack a "red line." Saree denied the group had targeted Mecca, describing the Saudi reports as a propaganda set-up.

The Houthis have fired repeatedly into Saudi Arabia over the past week, triggering alarms in southern and western cities. An attack blamed on Iran-aligned fighters in Iraq last week also disabled Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, a key route for diverting oil exports away from the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

The extension of the war threatens to worsen a global energy shortage caused by the six-month-old U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude hovered around $108 a barrel on Wednesday, near its highest level since May, while the average U.S. retail price of diesel hit a record above $6.30 a gallon. Traders warn that a prolonged closure of the East-West Pipeline could cut off as much as 4% of global oil supply. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said crude should be flowing through the pipeline within days.

Saudi Arabia has led a coalition battling the Houthis since 2015. The conflict had largely quietened under a ceasefire in recent years, but reignited when the Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in July and fired at southern areas. Violence intensified sharply this month when the group pushed back forces aligned with the Saudi-backed internationally recognised Yemeni government.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman phoned U.S. President Donald Trump last week seeking military support, which so far has been limited to intelligence aid. The United States bombed the Houthis for two months in 2025 but halted the campaign after Trump described a ceasefire with the group. Trump now faces a dilemma: stand by and risk the Houthi advance worsening the global energy crisis, or provide more direct military support to the Saudis and risk extending the costly U.S. intervention to another theatre.