"Offensive to Reclaim Territory" Launched... Retaliatory Strikes Hit Oil Facilities

[Anchor]

As the Yemeni government declared the launch of an operation to reclaim territory controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the Houthis launched an attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. Amid continuing tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, concerns are growing over a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Lee Hanseok reports from Washington.

[Reporter]

Fierce gunfire has erupted once again in Yemen, a powder keg of the Middle East.

The Yemeni government has officially declared the launch of a large-scale military operation to retake territory controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

With aerial support from Saudi Arabia, up to around 100,000 ground troops and pro-government armed factions are reportedly being deployed.

The Houthi rebels immediately launched retaliatory strikes.

The Houthis claimed that they fired ballistic missiles and drones targeting oil facilities belonging to Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company, Aramco, which supports the Yemeni government.

Maritime routes have also frozen over due to blockades and attacks.

In the Strait of Hormuz, the world's largest crude oil shipping lane, an oil tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile, damaging its engine room.

This is already the fourth reported attack this month, and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps itself recently announced that it has hit at least seven oil tankers over the past five days.

Meanwhile, Iran has repeatedly reiterated that it will not open the Strait of Hormuz until seven conditions are met, including the lifting of the U.S. maritime blockade and the return of funds.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that if the United States accepts its demands, the strait can be opened within a week, but warned that if military action is taken, it will respond more fiercely than before, even bringing up the possibility of withdrawing from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

As even the civil war in Yemen faces the crisis of an all-out war, fears of a global energy supply chain crisis and an escalation of conflict in the Middle East are reaching a peak.

(Camera: Oh Jung-shik)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.