Saudi Pipeline Shut After Drone Attack as Hormuz Meeting Postponed

A drone strike on Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline has forced the kingdom to shut down the critical artery, further straining global oil supplies and regional diplomacy. The attack, which occurred on Thursday, damaged a key release valve on the pipeline, which carries up to 7 million barrels per day from Saudi oil-producing regions near the Persian Gulf to Red Sea export terminals.

The closure comes as tensions simmer in the region, with Houthi forces in Yemen reportedly seizing Perim Island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait after taking the port city of Mokha. This development gives the group a stronger position from which to threaten oil flows through the strait, another critical chokepoint connecting the southern Red Sea to global shipping routes.

The pipeline's shutdown and the postponement of a meeting between Iran and Gulf Arab states originally scheduled for Monday in Salalah, Oman, have raised concerns about regional stability. The meeting was postponed 'in the interests of consensus,' according to Oman's foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi.