Additional Missile and Drone Strikes: Saudi Arabia Blocked by Houthis and Iran

[Anchor]

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who previously attacked a Saudi Arabian oil pipeline, have now fired missiles at a Saudi air force base. As Saudi Arabia, blocked by the Houthis, attempts to resume crude oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, the situation in the strait remains dire, fueling persistent concerns over disruptions to oil supplies.

Reporter Jeong Gu-hui has the details.

[Reporter]

Thick black smoke billows from a facility in Yemen following an airstrike.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi armed movement claimed that Saudi fighter jets bombed various locations across Yemen, and in retaliation, it launched dozens of ballistic missiles and drones at an air force base in southwestern Saudi Arabia.

[Yahya Sarea / Houthi Military Spokesperson : By the grace of Allah, the Yemeni armed forces carried out a large-scale, precise military operation targeting Saudi facilities.]

On the 11th, Houthi rebels used drones to attack Saudi oil pipelines.

These pipelines allowed up to 7 million barrels of crude oil per day to be transported to the Red Sea, bypassing the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, but operations have been suspended due to the attacks.

Locals estimate that repairing the pipelines will take at least 3 to 5 weeks.

Bloomberg reported that with pipeline operations halted, Saudi Arabia is exploring ways to resume crude oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz.

However, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz is also grim.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that on the 14th local time, a Panama-flagged very large crude carrier struck a sea mine and exploded.

Through its media outlet, the Revolutionary Guard stated that the tanker had ignored prior warnings and entered a restricted zone.

Iran designated 45 ships for sanctions on August 24 for violating navigation regulations in the Strait of Hormuz, and yesterday (the 14th) additionally released a new list expanding the number to 77 vessels.

With the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea—key Middle Eastern crude oil transport routes—blocked simultaneously, and Saudi Arabia's oil pipelines brought to a halt, major disruptions to global oil supply and demand are feared.

[Video Editing: Lee Sang-min]
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.