26.07.2026 13:52
Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen announced that they attacked facilities of Saudi Arabia's national oil and gas company Aramco in Jazan and Yanbu with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones. While the Houthis claimed the targets were hit, Saudi Arabia described the attacks as a step that escalates tensions and reiterated its call for peace.
Yahya Sari, the military spokesman for Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, stated that they carried out "two qualitative military operations" targeting critical facilities belonging to Aramco in the Saudi cities of Jazan and Yanbu.
BALLISTIC AND CRUISE MISSILES AND DRONES WERE USED
Sari said that first, the Aramco facilities in Jazan were struck with dozens of ballistic missiles and drones, followed by an attack on facilities in Yanbu using ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones, claiming that "the targets were successfully hit."
Sari, who noted that they continue the naval blockade against Saudi Arabia, indicated that attacks could increase in the coming hours and days.
"HOUTHIS INSIST ON ESCALATING VIOLENCE AND TENSION"
Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al Jaber, stated that the Houthis insist on escalating rather than reducing violence and tension.
Al Jaber asserted that "Saudi Arabia continues and will continue to support all de-escalation and peace efforts, as well as the endeavors of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, to reach an inclusive political solution that ends the suffering of the Yemeni people."
Criticizing the Houthis for turning Yemen into "a pawn in the hands of external forces" despite peace efforts, Al Jaber said, "Houthi terrorists continue to insist on taking the path of escalation and violence instead of de-escalation and peace, to serve external agendas that have nothing to do with Yemen or the interests of its people."
WHAT HAPPENED?
On July 20, Iran-backed Houthis announced the initiation of what they called a "naval navigation ban" against Saudi Arabia, citing Riyadh's blockade of areas under Houthi control in Yemen.
On the evening of July 22, the Houthis claimed that they targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea with ballistic missiles and drones, alleging that the attacks caused fires on the ships.
Although clashes between government forces and Houthis in Yemen occur from time to time, relative calm has prevailed since April 2022. The Houthis have controlled the capital Sanaa as well as several other cities and provinces of the country since September 2014.