Full-Scale Conflict: The Worst Brawl Surrounding the Red Sea

[Anchor]

A full-scale conflict has erupted between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels over the Red Sea strait, which serves as an alternative oil transport route to the Strait of Hormuz. International oil prices have soared close to $100 a barrel, and the United States, pointing to Iran as the mastermind, has resumed airstrikes.

Reporting from Washington, this is correspondent Lee Hanseok.

[Reporter]

The Iran-backed Houthi rebel group launched a surprise attack using drones and missiles on four cities in southern Saudi Arabia.

The targets included a Saudi air force base and core refining and power facilities belonging to the state-owned oil company Aramco.

Saudi authorities stated that 73 people were injured in the attacks, and Saudi-led coalition fighter jets immediately launched retaliatory airstrikes on Sanaa, the capital of Yemen.

Clashes between the two sides over the past week have left more than 500 dead and displaced approximately 18,000 refugees.

Following the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, this latest crisis has escalated into the worst brawl yet over control of the Red Sea, which is Saudi Arabia's lifeline for crude oil exports.

As tensions originating from the Middle East reached a fever pitch, global energy markets experienced massive turbulence, with Brent crude nearing $100 per barrel.

The U.S. administration identified Iran as the force behind the incident, ratcheting up pressure to its peak by imposing mass sanctions on 36 entities, including 27 Iranian commercial airlines.

[Trump / U.S. President: Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.]

The U.S. military has also resumed airstrikes.

It carried out multiple rounds of bombings, including striking a small Iranian oil tanker near Kharg Island, a key hub for Iranian crude oil exports.

Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released footage claiming it had captured an advanced U.S. autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle in the Strait of Hormuz.

Qatar, acting as a mediator, has urgently reached out to the international community, including China, in an effort to break the deadlock in end-of-war negotiations between the United States and Iran.

However, as the sparks of a total war threaten to spread across the entire Middle East, these efforts appear overmatched in dismantling the deep-seated wall of distrust between Washington and Tehran.

(Camera filming: Park Eun-ha, Video editing: Cho Muhwan)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.