The Iranian-backed Houthis claimed a missile attack on the Saudi city of Jizan early on Saturday, saying a "Yemeni missile strike" had caused fires in the city, according to the group's Ansarollah media on Telegram. Saudi authorities had issued emergency alerts for the province. The attack came after Riyadh launched air strikes on Houthi targets in the Yemeni port city of Hodeida and a nearby island on Friday, to which the group had vowed retaliation.
Meanwhile, in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, the US military said it fired on and disabled a tanker in the Gulf of Oman that was attempting to evade the American blockade on Iranian ports. Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, spokesman for US Central Command, told AFP: "We disabled the tanker after the crew attempted to run the blockade at least four times prior. The crew was repeatedly warned, didn't comply, and US forces on scene disabled the ship after firing into its engine room. The ship is no longer transiting to Iran." The vessel is the second commercial ship the US has disabled since reimposing its blockade earlier this month.
“Houthis claim missile attack on Saudi city Jizan; US disables tanker evading Iran blockade; Iran warns Ukraine over vessel attack.”
The escalation comes amid a broader period of no overnight US or Iranian air strikes for the first time in two weeks. The US had carried out 13 consecutive nights of attacks on Iran; Iran had also launched drone strikes on US military facilities. On Friday, President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that negotiations were continuing. "We are talking to them. I think they're being serious... but that doesn't mean we get there," he said. Asked about an exit strategy, Trump added: "There's a military exit where we just keep going... Or there's a smarter strategy that you make a deal." But he warned: "We're locked and loaded. We're ready to go."
In a separate incident, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea "cannot go unanswered". The attack caused an explosion that killed one sailor and injured another, Iran said. Araqchi made the comments in calls with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, posting on X. Lavrov offered condolences for the sailor's death and said Araqchi thanked local authorities in Russia's Astrakhan region for helping the crew, and "stressed the need to put an end to such adventures by the Kyiv regime". Araqchi also informed Lavrov of "continuing diplomatic efforts aimed at de-escalating tension in the Middle East".
Earlier, a delegation from Oman arrived in Tehran for talks on the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported. Oman controls the strait's southern coastline. The growing threat to shipping—including from Yemen's Houthis in the Red Sea—helped push crude oil back over $100 a barrel this week, the highest since May, though Brent futures fell more than $4 on Friday to just over $96.
The dual crises—a Houthi strike on Saudi soil and a US naval action against a blockade-runner—underscore how the region remains on edge, with diplomatic channels open but military options still on the table.
