Diplomatic efforts in the Middle East appeared to lose momentum as Iran and several Gulf states postponed a planned meeting, while fresh attacks near the region’s two critical oil corridors intensified fears about the security of global energy supplies.
Oil prices climbed more than 3% today after Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, forced the weekend closure of its vital 1,200km east-west pipeline. Iranian attacks on shipping in the Gulf added to concerns over further disruptions.
- Advertisement -
Prospects for an immediate diplomatic breakthrough dimmed late last night when Oman’s foreign minister, Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, said on social media that a regional meeting scheduled for today had been postponed “in the interests of consensus”.
Iranian officials had said they would join Gulf Arab states at the talks to discuss an agreement with Oman on managing shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz. Before the war, the waterway carried roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies.
The official said Iran would work with Oman to agree on a new date for the meeting.
The delay followed Saudi Arabia’s decision to suspend operations, at least temporarily, on the pipeline that provides the main route for moving Middle Eastern oil without using the Strait of Hormuz.
Risks to shipping through the strait remained high. The British maritime security agency UKMTO said a vessel had been hit by a projectile while transiting the waterway, triggering a fire and forcing its crew to evacuate.
Iran said one person had been killed and four crew members wounded after an Iranian commercial vessel was struck off the country’s coast.
Preliminary ship-tracking data released today showed that commodity vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had dropped to single digits per day over the weekend, well below the 10-day average of 14.
The figures do not include ships that may have passed through with their Automatic Identification System transponders switched off to avoid detection.
Damage caused to the East-West pipeline pumping station in Saudi Arabia
US diesel hits another record
Oil prices surged above $100 (€86.54) a barrel last week for the first time since July. In the United States, the politically sensitive retail price of diesel rose yesterday to another record, exceeding $6.20 (€5.37) a gallon.
Traders and Saudi oil buyers said Riyadh had enough crude stored at its Red Sea port of Yanbu to keep exports moving for only five to seven days if the pipeline hit on Friday remains out of service.
Beyond that point, as much as 4% of global oil supply could be put at risk, on top of the millions of barrels already disrupted by the sharp decline in traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi Arabia has not disclosed the full extent of the pipeline damage or indicated when repairs might be completed.
Sources have offered sharply different estimates, ranging from several days to weeks. Satellite imagery has shown towering plumes of smoke rising from points along the pipeline.
The latest escalation, linked to the war launched by the United States and Israel six months ago, follows a relatively calm August during which Middle Eastern oil flows had begun to recover.
In an interview with London-based pan-Arab news outlet Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran would not reopen the strait until the United States met its demands, regardless of any agreement reached with Oman.
The US has so far failed to meet the objectives President Donald Trump announced when he launched “Operation Epic Fury” in February: ending Iran’s nuclear programme, preventing it from attacking neighbouring countries and creating conditions for its people to remove their rulers.
During a weekend visit to Ireland, which included attendance at the Irish Open golf tournament, Trump repeated his expectation that the war with Iran would end this year, possibly shortly after the US midterm elections in November. Gasoline prices, he said, would then “drop like a rock”.
Houthi attacks continue
In Saudi Arabia, state media released footage showing damage to homes and a mosque after the latest reported cross-border attack by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in the southern province of Jazan.
The Houthis separately claimed to have hit a Saudi military base in a neighbouring province after capturing Perim Island in the Bab El-Mandeb, the “Gate of Tears” strait at the entrance to the Red Sea.
Their advance along the Red Sea coast forms part of Yemen’s most intense outbreak of fighting in years.
The Houthi offensive and its attacks on Saudi territory present Washington with a fresh dilemma: the United States wants to back its Saudi allies and protect commercial shipping, but is reluctant to become embroiled in another war.
The attacks have also placed Gulf governments in a difficult position, forcing them to weigh mounting economic losses against the possibility of engaging with Iran.
The United States bombed the Houthis for two months in 2025, but Trump ended the campaign after announcing that the group had withdrawn its threat to attack shipping in the Red Sea.
Three sources said Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, called Trump last week to request military assistance against the Houthis, but received an offer of intelligence support for the time being.
Trump confirmed on Saturday that he had spoken with the crown prince. He also said the Houthis had contacted the US administration and asked Washington to stay out of the war in Yemen.
