By Naeema Saleem — SCN News
RIYADH — Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis launched a fresh wave of missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia as Gulf states postponed planned talks with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, raising the risk that fighting across the region could further disrupt some of the world's most important oil-export routes.
The Houthis said they fired dozens of missiles and drones at a military airbase in Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia on Monday, targeting aircraft hangars, radar systems, runways and ammunition depots in retaliation for Saudi air strikes in Yemen. Saudi authorities issued emergency alerts in Khamis Mushait and three other southern cities, while the Saudi-led coalition said 13 civilians were wounded.
The renewed attacks come as Riyadh weighs its response to a rapid Houthi advance in western Yemen. Yemeni officials said Houthi forces were strengthening positions along the Red Sea coast despite intensified Saudi and Yemeni air strikes, adding another security challenge for the kingdom as maritime and energy infrastructure comes under increasing pressure.
The military escalation is unfolding alongside a diplomatic setback. Gulf Arab states postponed talks with Iran that were expected to address proposals concerning the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which roughly a fifth of global oil exports normally passes. Oman, which has played a central mediation role, postponed the planned meeting amid disagreements over how to proceed.
Iran said Saudi Arabia had sought the postponement, while Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said the delay was made in the interests of consensus. The meeting would have represented one of the highest-level multilateral contacts between Iran and Gulf Arab states since the wider regional conflict intensified.
The simultaneous pressure on Hormuz and the Red Sea is particularly significant for Saudi Arabia. Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz increases the importance of alternative export routes across the kingdom towards the Red Sea, but those routes are themselves facing growing security risks from the Yemen conflict and attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure.
Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline has been offline following attacks on energy infrastructure, adding to concern over how quickly the kingdom could compensate for disrupted maritime exports. Oil prices rose on Tuesday as traders assessed the combination of pipeline outages, Houthi attacks and sharply reduced commodity-vessel traffic through Hormuz.
The Houthis' recent territorial advances have made the Red Sea dimension still more consequential. The group has expanded its position along Yemen's western coastline and captured strategically important territory near Bab al-Mandab, the narrow passage linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and one of the world's critical maritime trade corridors.
The escalation has prompted intensified consultations between Riyadh and Washington. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met U.S. Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper in Jeddah to discuss regional developments after the Houthi advance, while Washington has provided intelligence and targeting support to Saudi Arabia without moving to direct strikes against the group.
The widening confrontation also increases the danger that developments previously treated as separate fronts — the Iran crisis, the closure or disruption of Hormuz, fighting in Yemen and threats to Red Sea shipping — could become increasingly interconnected. A prolonged disruption at both Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab would place exceptional pressure on Gulf energy exports and international shipping.
For Saudi Arabia, that creates a difficult strategic calculation. Riyadh must contain Houthi military gains and protect its southern territory while preserving the Red Sea infrastructure that becomes more valuable whenever Hormuz is restricted. At the same time, a large-scale military response risks deepening the Yemen conflict and making diplomatic engagement with Tehran more difficult.
The postponed Gulf-Iran meeting therefore carries consequences beyond the negotiating table. With attacks continuing and alternative oil corridors increasingly exposed, the absence of diplomatic progress is narrowing the space between a regional security crisis and a broader disruption to global energy supplies.