Yemen's Houthi movement has claimed responsibility for a drone strike on Saudi Aramco's Jazan oil refinery early Sunday, according to a statement by Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree posted on X. Saudi Arabia's energy ministry confirmed a fire had broken out at the facility, which processes 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day, and said it was later extinguished with no injuries reported. The ministry did not identify a cause.
Houthis claim drone strike on Saudi Aramco refinery as Hormuz reopening talks stall
Yemen's Houthi movement has claimed responsibility for a drone strike on Saudi Aramco's Jazan oil refinery early Sunday, according to a statement by Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree posted on X. Saudi Arabia's energy ministry confirmed a fire had broken out at the facility, which processes 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day, and said it was later extinguished with no injuries reported. The ministry did not identify a cause.
The Jazan attack occurred two days after Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed a memorandum of understanding described as a collective defence arrangement, under which an armed attack on any one of the three would be treated as an attack on all. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the accord was not directed at Iran or any other specific country, but represented a general security commitment among the three states. It was not established whether Turkey or Pakistan would participate in any Saudi response to the Houthi strikes.
The Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea last month, citing what they described as a Saudi siege against them. Saudi Arabia has denied that allegation. The group has previously struck Aramco installations in Jazan and the Red Sea oil export hub of Yanbu. In a separate statement, Houthi spokesperson Saree also said the group carried out missile and drone strikes on Mocha, a Red Sea port city in Yemen controlled by the internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government based in Aden.
Separately, the United Arab Emirates said on Saturday that a vessel affiliated with its state oil company had been targeted by an Iranian missile. Iran did not immediately comment. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has previously acknowledged attacking ships it said had not coordinated their passage through the Strait of Hormuz with Tehran.
Negotiations over reopening the Strait of Hormuz remained unresolved as of Sunday. Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, a former IRGC commander, said the strait would not reopen until the United States corrected its 'behaviour.' His stated conditions included a permanent end to hostilities with Iran and its regional allies, lifting of the naval blockade on Iranian ports, full US military withdrawal from the area, comprehensive compensation for war damage, removal of sanctions, and unconditional release of frozen Iranian assets.
There was no immediate US response to those conditions. According to the memorandum of understanding signed by the US and Iran in June, a sanctions timetable and compensation plan were to be part of a final peace agreement, with frozen assets to be addressed in negotiations.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Iran and Oman were close to an agreement on navigation through the strait, specifically regarding the determination of a transit route, but added that reopening was contingent on other conditions being met. He attributed the current impasse to what he called a US violation of the June memorandum of understanding. Oman, which is mediating the talks, said Saturday that discussions were continuing in what it described as a positive and constructive atmosphere and condemned attacks on ships in the strait.
Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public since an airstrike killed his father and predecessor on the first day of the conflict. Iranian state media reported Sunday that President Masoud Pezeshkian met Khamenei in late July. Pezeshkian has given varying accounts of his access to the supreme leader, stating in July that interactions were increasing, then later describing communication as very difficult. Decision-making authority in Tehran is understood to rest ultimately with the supreme leader.
Tehran and allied Shia armed groups have been conducting strikes against Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states and disrupting their energy shipments since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on 28 February, according to the source text. The resulting disruption to global energy supplies has affected the broader world economy.
- The United States did not respond to Iran's stated conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz at the time of reporting.
- Iran did not comment on the UAE's claim that an Iranian missile targeted a vessel affiliated with the UAE state oil company.
- Saudi Arabia did not publicly attribute the Jazan refinery fire to the Houthis or comment on the Houthi claim.
- The source does not establish the full terms or legal status of the June US-Iran memorandum of understanding.
- The source does not clarify the current military or operational status of the Jazan refinery following the incident.
- No detail is provided on the nature, scale, or current status of the alleged US naval blockade of Iranian ports referenced by Iranian officials.
- The source does not specify what, if any, binding obligations Turkey and Pakistan have assumed under the new trilateral accord regarding responses to attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Read the original at The Guardian