Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthis attacked four cities in the south of US ally Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, wounding more than 70 people and setting oil installations ablaze in what appeared to be a major expansion of the six-month-old Middle East war. Meanwhile, explosions were reported in the Iranian oil hub of Kharg Island and the Gulf of Oman port of Jask, Iranian media said, indicating a possible resumption of US attacks on Iran after a two-day pause. Iran's Tasnim news agency said a US missile struck an Iranian tanker 4 miles (6 km) from Kharg Island, and the crew was being evacuated, though it said no casualties were reported, citing local sources. The Pentagon had no immediate response to the reports, though a Fox News reporter, citing unnamed senior US officials, attributed the strikes to the US military.
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Cover image: Boats pictured near the coast of Bab el-Mandeb, in Yemen. © Reuters file photo
In Saudi Arabia, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen's populated areas including the capital, said they had launched a broad operation deep into Saudi territory. They used drones and missiles to strike a Saudi airbase in the southern city of Khamis Mushait as well as Saudi state oil company assets in the cities of Abha, Najran and Jazan. NASA satellite images showed a thick cloud of black smoke over the Jazan refinery and a column of white smoke rising from an oil distribution centre in Abha. Saudi authorities described blazes at the sites and said women and children were among the 73 people hurt. The reports of such large numbers of wounded suggested the attacks were among the biggest carried out against Saudi Arabia since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran in February. No confirmed images from the ground of the attacked Saudi cities were available, and witnesses could not be reached in a country where media is tightly controlled.
