Saudi Arabia pledged on Tuesday to respond “firmly” to a new series of attacks launched by the Ansar Allah Houthi group in Yemen on its territory.
On Monday, the Ansar Allah Houthi group in Yemen launched attacks again targeting Saudi Arabia, with the Houthis accusing the Kingdom of launching more than 50 raids in the past 24 hours, while Tehran denied any role in this conflict, which was renewed in light of the war in the Middle East between Iran and the United States, according to Agence France-Presse.
In this context, the UN Security Council will hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the situation in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, according to diplomatic sources.
The Houthis announced on Monday that they launched dozens of missiles and drones at a military air base in Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia, targeting aircraft hangars, radar systems, runways and ammunition depots, in response to Saudi air strikes in Yemen.
The Saudi authorities issued emergency alerts in that region and in three other southern cities, and the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen reported that 13 civilians were injured in attacks launched by the Houthis, according to Reuters news agency.
In recent days, the group has achieved great progress at the expense of government forces supported by Riyadh in battles that resulted in the deaths of hundreds. They expanded their control as a result of a surprise attack in the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, which connects Europe to Asia, and took control of the entire western coast of Yemen overlooking the Red Sea.
Saudi Arabia has been leading a coalition that has been fighting the Houthis since 2015, but the conflict has declined to a large extent under a ceasefire over the past years, and fighting has renewed this month, as the Houthis pushed forces loyal to the internationally recognized government to retreat.
Exporting oil through the Red Sea has gained increasing importance for Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude exporter, in light of Tehran's restriction of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, which hinders a large portion of exports from its fields located in the east.
Last week, Riyadh announced the suspension of work on the East-West pipeline to transport oil from the fields to the coast of the Red Sea, after a drone attack that it said came from Iraq.
During the recent period, the Houthis repeatedly announced targeting areas in Saudi Arabia, especially oil facilities in the south of the kingdom bordering Yemen, and on Monday they announced launching a rare attack with drones and missiles on the King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia.
Yahya Saree, the military spokesman for the Houthis, said in a post on X that the raids “targeted the governorates of Taiz, Lahj, Al-Jawf, Ma’rib and Hajjah,” threatening that “this brutal aggression will not go unpunished and responded.”
Two Yemeni military sources in Aden, where the internationally recognized government is based, reported that eight soldiers in the government forces were killed and others were injured as a result of Houthi missile attacks on sites between the Ma’rib and Al-Jawf governorates.
The Houthis' Al-Masirah channel reported attacks in the same area, targeting reinforcements.
For her part, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned on Monday the "continuous attacks" launched by "Iranian agents" in the Gulf region.
“We stand in solidarity with our partners in the Gulf in the face of the continuing attacks by Iranian proxies,” von der Leyen wrote on the X platform. “We are all concerned.”
On Monday, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied any involvement by Tehran in the ongoing war in Yemen.
Ismail Baghaei, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: “Iran does not interfere in Yemeni affairs,” stressing that the Houthis are “completely independent and make their decisions according to their own interests.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry added that Saudi Arabia requested, against the backdrop of the Yemeni developments, the postponement of the meeting dedicated to the Strait of Hormuz, which was scheduled to be held Monday in the Sultanate of Oman between Tehran and the Gulf states.
Baqai believes that “relying on the Yemeni issue as a reason for postponement is a weak excuse,” without providing additional details.
This comes as US President Donald Trump expressed, on Monday, his “openness” to holding talks with Iran.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “The failed Iranian nation wants to reach an agreement quickly and urgently. I will decide whether the United States chooses to engage in this or not, which is something we are open to.”
The Egyptian presidency announced that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will receive Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Egypt on Tuesday.
The Egyptian presidential spokesman said that Sisi will receive bin Salman “as part of his working visit to the Arab Republic of Egypt,” which includes “a bilateral meeting between the two leaders, followed by an expanded discussion session between the delegations of the two countries.”
Merit Mabrouk, a researcher at the Middle East Institute in Washington, told Agence France-Presse that Mohammed bin Salman “is seeking guarantees that Egypt will intervene to protect Bab al-Mandab if necessary.”
She added: "I think it has become clear that the region cannot rely on the American security umbrella, and so I believe that there will be renewed regional efforts to try to settle matters with Iran."
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aty said last week that Egypt is one of the countries most affected by navigational disturbances resulting from the war in the Middle East, explaining that the losses of the Suez Canal amounted to approximately $11 billion.
