Gulf States Postpone Strait of Hormuz Talks Amid Rising Tensions
The planned talks between Gulf States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz have been postponed amidst rising tensions in the region. The stalemate over the vital waterway comes as Houthi rebels launched a fresh barrage of missile and drone attacks on Saudi military targets, with a Houthi military spokesperson claiming its forces had attacked the King Khalid airbase in Khamis Mushait.
The postponement, combined with the Houthis' seizure last week of Yemen's Red Sea coast and Tehran-backed pressure in Iraq that forced Saudi Arabia to close a critical east-west pipeline, has driven up oil prices above $108 a barrel on Monday. Oman's foreign minister, Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, said the meeting had been delayed in the interests of consensus.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the meeting was postponed due to 'events unfolding in Yemen', while Iran and the US traded new claims over a drone incident in the Hormuz strait. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it intercepted and destroyed an advanced MQ-1 drone using a 'new advanced aerospace defence system.'
The tensions have put oil supply at risk, with commodity vessel transits through the strait falling to a single digit per day at the weekend, well below a 10-day average of 14. Traders and Saudi oil buyers told Reuters that Riyadh has enough oil stored at its Red Sea port of Yanbu to maintain exports for just five to seven days if the pipeline remains shut.