Add The New York Post on Google Saudi Arabia shut down a critical oil pipeline Thursday after it was set on fire by repeated strikes — while the Iran-backed Houthis seized control of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline, tightening their grip on a vital shipping route in the region.
Multiple drones blasted Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline Thursday, sparking fires and resulting in “a number of injuries,” according to the country’s energy ministry.
A senior Saudi official told The Wall Street Journal that Thursday’s attacks originated from Iraq, where Iranian-backed militias have been relentlessly targeting the Kingdom’s infrastructure in a calculated effort alongside the Houthis to widen the war in the Middle East.
But the Saudis reportedly do not plan on retaliating.
The pipeline, which can carry up to 7 million barrels of crude oil a day to the port of Yambu on the Red Sea, was closed as a precautionary measure in light of the strikes, the ministry said.
Satellite images showed large black clouds of debris blotting out the pipeline.
The strikes come as the Houthis captured Mayun, a tiny Yemeni island inside the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the 20-mile-wde critical shipping corridor for Saudi oil exports that sits at the tip of the Red Sea — and opposite the Strait of Hormuz along the Arabian Peninsula.
The Houthis efforts to grab hold of the shipping route could hand Iran a critical advantage in its war with the US, reducing supplies through a second major corridor and result in another spike in oil prices.
The Houthi armed forces boasted of their gains and vowed an “escalation for escalation” in their fight against the Saudi Kingdom — and eerily declared that “maritime navigation is safe for all companies except for Saudi vessels.”
The threats added pressure to an already volatile market, with crude prices rising above $100 a barrel this week.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly called President Trump twice Thursday to urge him to launch US strikes against the Houthis amidst the terror group’s attacks in Saudi Arabia, according to Axios.
The president rebuffed the crown prince, the outlet reported, adding that the Trump administration is not currently looking to launch a military campaign against the Houthis.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has increasingly relied on the Red Sea to export crude while the Strait of Hormuz has been entangled in the United States’ conflict with Tehran.
The Houthis have been bombarding Saudi shipping on the Red Sea since declaring a blockade in July, as well as hitting oil infrastructure in the country.
Shipping in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait has plummeted by 60% since the terror group began attacking ships there in 2023 — and expressed their support for Palestinians during the war in Gaza.
The Saudis have been forced to seek other routes for some exports, sending oil north through the Red Sea toward the Mediterranean through either the Suez Canal or a pipeline in Egypt.
Earlier Friday, the Iranian regime also called for an end to Saudi Arabia’s blockade of Houthi-controlled areas — with the Iranian Foreign Ministry urging a return to negotiations between the kingdom and Tehran’s proxy.
