Houthi rebels claim missile strike on Saudi Arabia's Jazan refinery

Houthi rebels claim missile strike on Saudi Arabia's Jazan refinery

Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility on Saturday, July 25, 2026, for a missile attack on the southern Saudi Arabian city of Jazan. The strike follows a sequence of escalating hostilities in the Red Sea and marks the opening of a new front in a regional war that began after US-Israeli strikes on Tehran in February.

Ansarollah media posted to Telegram on Saturday that a Yemeni missile strike had sparked fires in Jazan. While Riyadh did not immediately comment on the strikes, footage verified by AFP and posted by OSINTtechnical showed dark clouds rising above a Saudi Aramco oil refinery in the city.

The attack coincided with warnings from Saudi Arabia's civil defence agency issued to residents in Jazan and the northern city of Yanbu. Though these warnings for potential danger were lifted within minutes, Greek security sources told Reuters that Saudi air defence systems had intercepted two ballistic missiles on Saturday targeting oil refineries in Yanbu.

Escalation in the Red Sea

The Houthi missile strike followed vows of retaliation after Saudi Arabia struck military targets in Yemen on Friday. A Yemeni security source told AFP that those strikes targeted a military camp on Kamaran island and a naval base at Ras al-Kathib in the port city of Hodeida, as well as a telecommunications building. Al-Masirah television reported that a woman on Kamaran island and a worker in Hodeida were wounded.

Faiza, a 36-year-old resident of Hodeida, described the Saudi strikes as sounding like loud thunder and said she heard three distinct explosions.

The Saudi-led coalition stated the Friday strikes were a response to Houthi attacks on commercial vessels and the announcement of a maritime blockade against the top oil producer. The rebels had warned via radio on Monday that they would target ships belonging to (the) Saudi enemy that failed to comply with the blockade. Earlier in the week, Houthis claimed attacks on two Saudi ships. Saudi state media confirmed one incident, noting that the vessel NCC MASA suffered minor hull damage.

The blockade of the Red Sea is particularly critical as Saudi Arabia's other maritime route, the Strait of Hormuz, is under a parallel blockade by Iran. According to Kpler data, the Red Sea port of Yanbu became the sole exit for all Saudi seaborne crude exports in April and May, accounting for 92 percent of exports in June and 78 percent so far in July.

Diplomatic and Military Context

This flare-up occurs as US President Donald Trump evaluates his strategy toward Iran. On Friday, Trump told reporters at the White House that he is holding off on a major operation because Iran is getting serious in talks with Washington.

The US military broke a streak of 13 consecutive nights of strikes on military targets in the Islamic republic on Saturday. Trump presented a choice to Iran: reach a deal or face a much higher level of strikes. He noted that while he does not know the tipping point for a decision, Iran nearing the development of a nuclear weapon remains a red line.

The broader conflict has seen Iran strike US military assets in Kuwait, Jordan, and Bahrain. Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed to have targeted an Amazon data center in Bahrain, though neither the company nor the Bahraini government has commented. Iran's actions follow US strikes intended to prevent the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Regarding international support for Tehran, Trump insisted that Russia and China are not arming Iran, stating I trust them after assertions from Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. Meanwhile, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported that Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Kyrgyzstan to discuss a memorandum of understanding to ease tensions in the Gulf and Middle East.

The recent violence threatens a 2022 UN-negotiated truce in Yemen. The Houthis have been at war with the Saudi-backed government since 2014, a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.