Houthis Hit Saudi Arabia with Missiles Amid Escalating Middle East War

The Houthis have claimed to hit Saudi Arabia with missiles on Saturday morning, deepening their involvement in the Middle East war. The Islamist militants, based in Yemen and backed by Iran, said they fired missiles and drones at facilities linked to oil giant Saudi Aramco in the Red Sea port towns of Jizan and Yanbu.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Saudi government or Aramco that the company's sites were targeted. The Houthis have been increasingly aggressive, announcing several days ago they would blockade Saudi ports and threatening to strike any ship visiting them.

Saudi authorities issued emergency warnings for the provinces of Jazan and Yanbu around 6:10 a.m. local time, asking people to seek shelter. It ended the warnings shortly after. The escalation compounds an already severe squeeze on regional energy flows, with maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz largely paralyzed by hostilities between the US and Iran.

The Houthis have damaged at least one Saudi-linked oil tanker in the Red Sea, hitting another ship a day earlier, according to the kingdom's main news agency. The blockade is a response, the Houthis say, to recent strikes by the kingdom on the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.