Saudi Arabia has temporarily closed its East-West oil pipeline after an aerial strike hit the crucial route, adding fresh pressure to energy markets already strained by the widening Middle East war.
The world’s largest crude exporter said the shutdown was a precautionary measure following a drone attack that Baghdad and Riyadh both said was launched from Iraq, where Iranian-backed militias maintain a presence.
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Iraq responded by dismissing a military commander.
Stretching 1,200km across the Arabian Peninsula, the pipeline has carried much of the Middle East’s oil to global markets over the past six months, while the Strait of Hormuz has remained largely closed because of the conflict.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the strikes.
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Satellite imagery showed dark smoke billowing from a section of the pipeline south of Medina. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the attack caused injuries and damage, which authorities were still assessing, but gave no details on whether oil exports had been affected.
US President Donald Trump said Iran was probably responsible.
Saudi leader seeks US military backing
Oil prices have surged over the past week, while the US retail price of diesel climbed above a record $6 a gallon. The increases came as the United States and Iran exchanged fire involving tankers, while Iran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen advanced along the Red Sea, raising the prospect of disruption to another major energy corridor.
Washington now faces a difficult choice over whether to assist Saudi Arabia against the Houthis, a move that could draw the United States deeper into the conflict.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, called Mr Trump on Thursday to request US military assistance in fighting the Houthis, three sources told Reuters.
The sources said the crown prince was told that Washington would not take part directly for now, but would provide intelligence support.
Mr Trump confirmed that he had spoken with the crown prince. He also said the Houthis had contacted his administration and asked the United States not to intervene directly in the war.
Four Yemeni government sources told Reuters that the Houthis had captured the strategic island of Perim yesterday, in the centre of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, whose name means the “Gate of Tears” at the entrance to the Red Sea.
Yemeni government forces report strikes on Houthis in Red Sea port
Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces said they had attacked Iran-aligned Houthi fighters in the Red Sea city of Mocha, as renewed combat forced growing numbers of civilians to flee.
The government news agency Saba reported that Yemeni “forces destroyed vehicles and weapons and killed members of the Houthi terrorist militia” near Mocha’s port. It quoted a military spokesman as saying additional Houthi positions just outside the city had also been targeted.
The Houthis said this evening that “Saudi enemy aircraft conducted 129 airstrikes” on areas under their control during the previous 48 hours.
Yemen’s civil war began in 2014, when Houthi forces seized the capital, Sanaa. Fighting had largely subsided after a ceasefire in 2022, but the conflict erupted again in July, making Yemen the latest country drawn into the broader Middle East war.
Saudi Arabia joined the conflict in 2015 in support of Yemen’s internationally recognised government and continues to back the Aden-based administration.
Saudi authorities issued two brief alerts this evening warning of possible attacks in two southern regions close to the Yemeni border.
Iranian official downplays prospects for Oman talks
The United States and Iran have held no negotiations aimed at ending the conflict since a June agreement fell apart within weeks.
In a post on X, Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, said: “As long as the American side does not accept all of Iran’s conditions, dialogue and negotiation are of no use.”
Iran’s foreign ministry announced yesterday that Tehran would attend a meeting with Gulf Arab states in Oman on Monday, where the future of the Strait of Hormuz was expected to be discussed.
However, a senior Iranian official speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity said expectations for a breakthrough were low. The official said Oman had initiated the meeting and that it would cover issues including the strait, but was not expected to produce a signed agreement.
Oman has not formally announced the gathering, while other Gulf states have so far made no public comment.
Bahrain said it would not take part in meetings with Iran.
Iran wants its control over the Strait of Hormuz recognised, which would allow it to charge fees to ships passing through the waterway. Washington rejects that demand. Oman, which controls the strait’s opposite shore, says it is negotiating with the approval of other countries in the region.
The apparent launch of the attack on the Saudi pipeline from Iraqi territory has placed further strain on Baghdad’s government. Iraq is unusual in the region for maintaining close political and military relationships with both the United States and Iran.
Yemen’s Houthi supporters attend a rally celebrating the group’s seizure of Mocha and the Bab El-Mandeb Strait
Iraq removed the military commander and police chief in Maysan province, near the Iranian border. The area has long been viewed as a stronghold of Iranian-backed Shia militias, which retain significant influence there. Authorities also closed the main border crossing in the province.
Saudi Arabia, which has previously carried out strikes against pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, has not retaliated so far. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said Riyadh held back after a request from Iraq’s prime minister.
The International Energy Agency said yesterday that Saudi crude supplies had fallen to their lowest level in more than three decades, partly because Houthi-linked groups had attacked vessels travelling through the Bab el-Mandeb.
In Yemen, Saudi-backed forces aligned with the southern government signalled that they would seek to recover territory seized this week during the Houthis’ rapid offensive. The mountain fighters captured the capital 12 years ago and endured years of deadly Saudi airstrikes during the civil war.
Reuters reported that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had provided direct guidance for the Houthis’ dramatic advance along Yemen’s Red Sea coast.
Two Iranian sources said Tehran had instructed the Houthis last week to intensify attacks on Saudi Arabia and had promised additional funding, weapons and officers to support them.
Iran describes the Houthis as an ally but has publicly denied directing their military operations.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said maritime traffic remained safe for all ships except Saudi vessels, which are covered by a ban announced previously.
Trump says Iran could have targeted Europe with nuclear weapons
Speaking in Dublin earlier, Mr Trump repeated his belief that the war with Iran would end after the US midterm elections in November, adding that oil prices would plunge once the conflict was over.
“I think very soon. I think it’ll be probably right after the mid-terms. They’re trying to hold out as long as they can to complicate the election. But I think people are wise to it,” Mr Trump told reporters.
“When that happens, oil prices will come tumbling down.”
Trump says US has done ‘a great job’ in Gaza
Latest Middle East stories
He said that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon”, adding: “They were two weeks away from having a nuclear weapon.
“If they had it, they would have blown up Israel, they would have blown up the Middle East, and they would have hit some … in my opinion, (of) Europe’s cities and beyond cities, and they would probably hit us soon before we put out the fire. But they cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
Mr Trump also said that “very little” was happening in Gaza, claiming that the United States had “facilitated a peace of a kind”.
Asked how he would respond to people who say the US is “facilitating genocide in Gaza”, Mr Trump said: “When you say Gaza, we put out the fire. We got all the hostages back.
“There’s very little happening right now in Gaza. That’s not the place that people are talking about actually now.
“It was all about Gaza, and we got involved and we facilitated a peace of a kind, but we got all the hostages back.”
