Missiles, drones and oil tankers have become the latest flashpoints in a widening Middle East war, after Iranian-backed Houthis struck several Saudi cities, the US military hit multiple Iranian crude carriers and Iran said it launched ballistic missiles at a US base in Jordan.
The Houthis targeted four cities in southern Saudi Arabia, injuring 73 people and igniting fires at oil-related sites in what appeared to be a significant escalation in the six-month-old conflict.
With traders weighing the risk of disrupted supplies, the US military’s Central Command announced it had destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers and released video of the strikes. CENTCOM said the action followed two alleged attempts by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to hit a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles over the previous two days.
No Americans were harmed, the US said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would keep responding militarily to Iranian attacks.
“Iran continues to try to hit US naval ships and for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers,” Mr Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia.
Iranian missiles are intercepted by Jordanian air defense systems above Damascus in Syria
Iran then struck back, saying it carried out a ballistic missile attack on a US base near Al Azraq town in eastern Jordan, according to an IRGC statement carried by state media.
Iranian state media published video it said showed missiles being launched toward Jordan.
Iran claimed the salvo caused heavy damage. Jordan, however, said its air defences intercepted 18 of the 20 missiles, with the remaining two falling in unpopulated areas, and reported no casualties.
Iran has repeatedly hit US allies across the region during the war, including several strikes on Jordan, one of which killed two Us military personnel in July.
In a separate statement, the IRGC also said it attacked two US destroyers, according to state media.
The US military had yet to respond to the reports.
Iran also threatened to target oil tankers in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports, according to a statement carried by state media.
A maritime security source reported that a liquefied natural gas tanker was damaged in the Emirati port of Khor Fakkan, though responsibility was unclear.
Brent crude oil remained below $100 per barrel, despite the disruptions
After a quieter August, the US and Iran resumed exchanging fire in recent days, pushing benchmark Brent crude to its highest level since 23 July 23.
Even so, prices stayed below $100 (€85) per barrel despite the disruptions.
The conflict has repeatedly moved in fits and starts, with pauses giving way to flare-ups. Iran has continued to launch missile and drone strikes on neighbours and threaten oil shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, even as US attacks have degraded much of its conventional forces and deepened the strain on its already troubled economy.
The Houthis — who control most of Yemen’s populated areas, including the capital — have also ratcheted up pressure on US allies by intermittently disrupting shipping at the entrance to the Red Sea on the far side of the Arabian Peninsula.
Yesterday, the Houthis said they carried out a wide operation deep inside Saudi territory, using drones and missiles to hit a Saudi airbase in Khamis Mushait and Saudi state oil company assets in Abha, Najran and Jazan.
NASA satellite images showed a thick plume of black smoke over the Jazan refinery and a column of white smoke rising from an oil distribution centre in Abha.
Saudi authorities reported fires at the locations and said women and children were among the 73 wounded.
Reports of such a high number of injuries suggested the strikes were among the largest against Saudi Arabia since the United States and Israel began their war against Iran in February.
Houthi attacks on southwestern Saudi Arabia have the potential to worsen the war’s global economic impact
At the same time, Iranian tankers came under attack again, signalling a resumption of US strikes on Iran after a two-day pause.
The US said it destroyed four IRGC crude oil carriers in the Gulf of Oman and a fifth near the oil hub of Kharg Island, after Iranian media had reported some of the incidents.
“American forces directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable,” the Central Command statement said.
Houthi strikes in southwestern Saudi Arabia could deepen the war’s global economic impact by threatening Middle East energy flows beyond the already blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen for more than a decade.
That war had eased in recent years, but a ceasefire has since collapsed.
In recent days, Saudi-backed Yemeni forces aligned with a southern-based government have launched a multipronged offensive into Houthi-held areas after the Houthis tried to push into government-controlled positions.
The government — forced from the capital by the Houthis 12 years ago — said it now intends to retake all territory held by the group.
The broader confrontation in the Gulf has become a contest of resolve between Washington and Tehran, with both sides betting that economic pressure from rival blockades will compel the other to back down.
The US Treasury announced new aviation-related sanctions yesterday, saying the measures were designed to ground Iran’s airlines.
Washington is seeking to keep oil moving to global markets by guiding vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, while simultaneously trying to choke off Iran’s exports with a blockade.
Central Command said the tankers it struck were part of a shadow network used to finance the IRGC and its regional proxies.
Iran has long backed what it calls an “Axis of Resistance”, including Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Iraqi Shi’ite militias and the Houthis.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they captured a US submersible near the strait.
A US official said an underwater drone malfunctioned more than a day ago and said it did not carry classified sonar or radar equipment.
CENTCOM spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins, without saying whether Iran seized the device, said: “An underwater drone operated by US forces malfunctioned more than a day ago.
“It was surveying regional waters in support of ongoing operations.”
He added the “defective drone was an older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment”.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had said they seized a US underwater drone at the “entrance to the Strait of Hormuz in a complex intelligence and operational action”, describing it as “one of the most modern, unmanned and smart submarines” operated by US forces.
