Yemeni Houthi forces attacked “sensitive” sites in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, reportedly with Iranian missiles and drones.
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- The U.S. military has escorted one billion barrels of oil and over 2,000 commercial vessels out of the Persian Gulf in the last couple of months, the leader of U.S. Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, said in a video released Saturday.
- The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen expanded attacks on Saudi Arabia on Saturday, targeting oil storage at the Riyadh international airport and Aramco oil facilities in Yanbu, both deep into Saudi territory. Saudi officials later said that the Houthis had fired a ballistic missile at Riyadh, which they said was successfully intercepted.
- President Trump said Thursday he is poised to make a “big decision” on whether to launch a major assault to “annihilate” the Iranian regime. “It’s a big decision,” Mr. Trump told Axios ahead of a planned meeting with Arab Gulf leaders next week. “Anything could happen with me.”
U.S. embassies across Middle East issue security alerts for Americans amid “potential for unforeseen escalation” in conflict
U.S. embassies across the Middle East early Sunday morning local time issued security alerts for American citizens in the region.
“Due to tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation,” the State Department said in its alerts.
Saudi-led coalition says Houthis fired ballistic missile at Riyadh
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi militants said Saturday that the Iran-backed group fired a ballistic missile at Riyadh at dawn, after a fire broke out near the Saudi capital’s international airport.
Saudi Arabia shouldn’t be part of Iran-U.S. war, Turkish foreign minister says
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke out Saturday about the concerning spread of the Iran war throughout the Middle East, saying Saudi Arabia should not be involved.
“We do not accept Saudi Arabia being made a part of the ongoing conflict between Iran and America,” Fidan told Turkish TV station NTV. “Saudi Arabia should be kept outside this equation because they themselves are not seeking to become involved in it.”
Houthis say they targeted “sensitive sites” in Riyadh, Aramco facilities in Yanbu
The Iran-backed Houthis said on Saturday they launched strikes targeting “sensitive sites” in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and oil facilities in the kingdom’s port city of Yanbu, hours after residents reported blasts in the Saudi capital.
“In response to the Saudi enemy’s criminal attempts to target the capital Sana’a … the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out two successful military operations using a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said, in a statement on Telegram, referring to the name they use for unofficial armed forces. “The first targeted sensitive sites in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and the second targeted Aramco facilities in Yanbu.”
The Houthis did not specify what the “sensitive sites were,” but one appeared to be an Aramco fuel storage depot at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport.
Iran awaits U.S. response to its conditions for ending the war
The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, told Al Jazeera in an interview that Iran is waiting for President Trump’s response after Tehran conveyed its conditions for ending the war via Qatar.
It was not clear when the conditions were shared. Rezaei said they include ending the war on all fronts, releasing assets seized from Iran and ending the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports. Earlier U.S.-Iran negotiations fell apart.
He also said Iran wants the fighting involving Yemen and Saudi Arabia to end.
Iran has made similar demands several times in the past since the Islamabad memorandum of understanding fell apart in July. The demands have always been dismissed by Mr. Trump as not being realistic.
“Hopefully we’re toward the end of the war,” the president told reporters Wednesday. “They want to make a deal. We’ll see how that works out. They’re very much wanting to make, Iran is very much wanting to make a deal. We’ll see how.”
Pakistani, Iranian foreign ministers talk energy supply, shipping safety
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar discussed uninterrupted energy supplies and safe passage for commercial ships during a telephone call Saturday with his Iranian counterpart, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Dar underscored the importance of ensuring ships pass safely and quickly, citing the potential effects of disruptions on developing countries and global supply chains. The statement did not provide details of Araghchi’s response.
Araghchi is one of two prominent Iranian leaders, alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian, who will be attending the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week. It’s unclear whether either man will meet with President Trump or any U.S. officials.
Pakistan has faced rising energy prices as the tensions spiked, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government. An Islamist party has threatened to march on the capital, Islamabad, unless the government lowers fuel prices.
Pakistan signed a defense treaty with Saudi Arabia but has not honored it so far despite the attacks by Iran’s proxy , the Yemeni Houthi rebel group which its preventing any Saudi ships from passing thru Bab el Mandeb . Saudi Arabia uses the Bab el manned strait to ship to the far East including Pakistan
48 killed in fighting between Houthi, Yemeni forces: Sources
Fighting in southern Yemen between Saudi-backed government forces and Iran-backed Houthi fighters has killed 48 people in recent hours, military sources from both sides told AFP on Saturday.
Seventeen Yemeni troops were killed, while the Houthis reported 31 of their fighters killed in the past day, according to government military sources.
Some of that fighting affected the main airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday.
Firefighters could be seen trying to extinguish the flames of a burnt out fuel tank emblazoned with the logo of the Saudi oil giant Aramco near the airport, according to an AFP journalist at the scene. It was unclear whether anyone was injured in that specific strike.
Israeli army vehicle drives over Hezbollah-planted explosive, IDF says and injured 2 Israeli troops
The Israeli army launched widespread strikes on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon on Saturday after officials said an Israel Defense Forces vehicle drove over an explosive planted by the Iran-backed militant group.
An engineering vehicle ran over the charge, according to the IDF, and two soldiers were “lightly injured and evacuated for medical treatment.”
In response, the Israeli army announced it carried out widespread strikes across southern Lebanon on Hezbollah infrastructure, including observation posts.
‘Major problems’ at Riyadh airport, with flights canceled, delayed
Aircraft tracking website FlightRadar24 on Saturday reported major issues at the Saudi capital’s Riyadh King Khalid International Airport, including cancellations and delays, after residents saw smoke and flames near the site.
The airport was listed under the site’s maximum disruption index of 5.0, meaning the airport was seeing “major problems with long delays and several cancelled flights.”
The disruption follows an overnight air raid alert issued by Saudi authorities, the first since fighting in neighboring Yemen intensified this month.
Houthis’ escalation risks expanding conflict, U.N. says
The U.N.’s most powerful body said late Friday that the Houthis’ military escalation, attacks and threats “risk further expanding the conflict, threatening maritime security and international trade” while undermining regional and international efforts to secure peace in Yemen.
It warned that continued escalation would exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation in the country.
- CBS
