British Secretary of State for Defense Luke Pollard announced today, Tuesday (September 22, 2026), that his country has agreed to provide military logistical support to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to help it confront the attacks launched by the Iran-backed Houthis.
Luke Pollard explained that a British Royal Air Force "Voyager" refueling plane will undertake the task of supplying fuel to the British-made "Typhoon" aircraft used by Saudi Arabia in the air.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnum told reporters during his trip to New York to participate in the United Nations General Assembly meetings on Monday evening that a British plane would provide “defensive” support by supplying Saudi fighters with fuel by air.
He added, "We have received a request for military assistance from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (...) and it has approved this request regarding air refueling for defensive purposes."
The Prime Minister said that his decision was made "to protect the interests of Britain and the entire region because Saudi Arabia is, of course, subject to attacks and expects possible new unrest." He stressed the need for waterways to remain “open.”
It is expected that the refueling plane, which is usually stationed at the Akrotiri base in Cyprus, will begin use within days, and the support will be for a limited period, as officials estimate that it may last “weeks.”
The British News Agency reported that the mission will be limited to supporting Saudi aircraft responding to drone and missile attacks, and will not include participation in strikes against the Houthis.
For the first time since the resumption of hostilities in July, Riyadh was attacked on Saturday claimed by Iranian-backed rebels.
The Houthis accuse Saudi Arabia of launching bloody strikes on areas under their control in Yemen
On Tuesday, the Houthis in Yemen announced bloody strikes, which they attributed to Saudi Arabia, targeting the strategic coastal city of Mokha and the border governorate of Al-Jawf, more than a week after they launched a lightning attack that enabled them to control the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which is vital for energy flows and global shipping.
The Houthi-run Saba news agency reported that Saudi raids on Mokha resulted in the deaths of six people, including two children and a woman.
Later, the agency quoted the Ministry of Health as saying that a mother and her child were killed in Al-Jawf Governorate, northwest of Yemen, near the border with Saudi Arabia, in Saudi raids.
Also in Al-Jawf, nine "those who were captured in recent events" were killed as a result of a Saudi strike targeting a prison on Monday evening, according to what Saba reported, quoting the head of the National Committee for Prisoners' Affairs, Abdul Qadir Al-Murtada.
These attacks come after a major escalation by the Houthis, which included targeting Riyadh on Saturday, for the first time in years.
The New York Times reported that US President Donald Trump has changed his position several times in recent days regarding his strategy in Yemen, in light of Saudi pressure to carry out strikes against the Iran-backed Houthis, and fears of Washington’s involvement in a new front in the Middle East.
Trump had informed his advisors the previous day of his opposition to launching strikes, but he changed his position after a new call made by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, “again urging him to intervene to stop the rapid advance” of the Houthis, according to the newspaper, and “ordered the Pentagon to prepare to carry out air strikes against the Houthis,” according to the newspaper. However, by Sunday afternoon, it appeared that he had backed down again and decided not to carry out the strikes, “at least for now,” according to US administration officials who spoke to the New York Times on condition of anonymity.
On Sunday, Fox News quoted Trump as saying that the Houthis had agreed not to target American sites.
The White House declined to comment on this information.
A call between Trump and the President of the Yemeni Presidency
In a related context, a source in the office of the head of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, told Agence France-Presse on Monday (September 21, 2026) that Al-Alimi requested Washington’s support in confronting the Houthis during a phone call with Trump, in the midst of renewed battles in Yemen.
The source said, requesting anonymity, that "Trump did not pledge to provide American support," noting that the call that took place on Sunday evening "represents political support for the Presidential Command Council in light of the developments in the situation in Yemen and the confrontation with the Houthis," after the rebels took control of the entire Yemeni coast overlooking the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait in a lightning attack.
Al-Alimi's request comes in the wake of the Houthis' escalation by targeting the Saudi capital on Saturday for the first time in years, causing a fire to break out in a fuel tank near the airport.
Washington warned on Saturday of the possibility of a "rapid escalation" in the Middle East.
The Revolutionary Guard confirmed in a statement on Monday (September 21, 2026) that “in the event of a new attack, there will certainly be major changes in our defense and counterattack,” hinting at “a change in the geography of war and the weapons and military equipment used.” He added, "We will introduce new weapons with new capabilities to the battlefield, and the world will be surprised." He said, "Our goals will not necessarily be the same as before. We have new goals that we have not attacked yet." He also stressed readiness for a "long-term war."
The headquarters of Khatam al-Anbia, the central operations room of the Iranian Armed Forces, warned the United States on Saturday that “all its bases and interests in the region will become the target of continuous, effective and painful attacks without any limits or restrictions,” if it “commits a mistake in dealing with Iran.”
Two wounded after a tanker was hit by an "unidentified projectile" in the Strait of Hormuz
Iran has practically closed the Strait of Hormuz, vital to the world's energy supplies, since the outbreak of war with the first American-Israeli strikes on it on February 28, and the United States responded by imposing a blockade on Iranian ports.
The British Maritime Trade Operations Authority (UKMTO) said, "The military authorities informed us that a tanker was hit by an unknown projectile while crossing the Strait of Hormuz toward entry." She added, "Two crew members were slightly injured, and it was reported that the ship was continuing to sail under its own power to the next port of call."
Earlier this month, Iran announced the expansion of the “restricted zone” it imposed outside the strategic waterway, to include parts of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
After a month of relative calm in the war that broke out with the US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, the military escalation recently returned with the exchange of strikes, at a time when the diplomatic track is still faltering.
The war expanded to reach Yemen, where the conflict witnessed a sharp escalation in July following a truce concluded in 2022, with the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels announcing the imposition of a naval blockade on Saudi ports and beginning to target the Kingdom’s facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.
In September, after a surprise attack, the Houthis took control of the entire western coast of Yemen overlooking the Red Sea, and seized the area of the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, which connects the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea, and then Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal.
Preliminary data from analytics company Kpler showed on Monday (September 21, 2026) that four traceable ships, including two tankers carrying refined oil products and two empty tankers of bulk commodities and gas, left the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, while two small oil tankers entered the Gulf. The data showed that five ships left the Gulf on Saturday carrying agricultural products, liquefied petroleum gas and fertilizers, while a giant gas tanker entered empty.
Visible shipping traffic through the strait, which was a passage for a fifth of the world's supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas before the war, has diminished to very limited levels, but Middle Eastern producers continue to export oil on tankers that pass with their transponders turned off.
Before the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28, about 125 large commercial ships usually passed through the Strait daily, including oil tankers, gas tankers, bulk cargo ships, and container ships.
An increase in crude exports from Saudi Arabia via Hormuz
Houthi attacks on Saudi Aramco's East-West pipeline prompted the state energy company to increase its exports for the current and next months through the Strait of Hormuz, after halting some shipments through Yanbu.
This helped exports of the largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) recover to more than four million barrels per day since the beginning of September, after falling to 2.4 million barrels per day in August, the lowest level since at least 2013, according to preliminary data from Kpler.
Kpler data showed that 18 tankers, most of them very large crude carriers carrying 34 million barrels of crude oil, left the strait in the week ending September 13. Saudi Arabia accounted for half of the exports, while 35 percent of the quantities came from Iraq.
“Oil flows from the Middle East remain surprisingly strong despite the disruption to the Saudi East-West pipeline,” analysts at JP Mordan said in a note dated September 18. They added that total oil flows averaged 17.1 million barrels per day during the past ten days, which is only 6.1 million barrels per day less than the 2025 average.
“The most notable shift came from Saudi Arabia,” analysts said, as satellite data indicated that Saudi oil transiting through the Strait of Hormuz averaged 2.9 million barrels per day during the past six days, up from only 700,000 barrels per day in August.
Oil prices decline
Oil prices fell on Monday to their lowest levels in more than a week, amid hopes that the United Nations meetings this week will provide an opportunity for diplomatic efforts in the war with Iran, and with investors anticipating a partial recovery in oil shipments from Saudi Arabia despite the continuing attacks launched by the Houthis in Yemen.
Brent crude futures and US West Texas Intermediate crude touched their lowest levels since September 10 earlier on Monday. Brent recorded $101.71 per barrel by 0213 GMT, down $2.16, equivalent to 2.08 percent, after closing down 0.91 percent on Friday.
US West Texas Intermediate crude fell $2.15, or 2.14 percent, to $98.15 a barrel, after a 1.58 percent decline in the previous session.
