Iran-aligned Houthi forces have claimed a third attack on Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery in two weeks, deepening concerns over the security of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea oil infrastructure amid a stalemate in US-Iran negotiations.
The Houthis said on Tuesday that their forces targeted the refinery with several drones, according to the Houthi-controlled Saba news agency.
A Houthi military source described the strike as precise and said it was carried out in response to alleged violations of Yemeni airspace over the Saada and Hajjah governorates.
Saudi authorities had not immediately confirmed the reported attack.
If confirmed, the latest incident would mark the third reported Houthi attack on the Jazan refinery in two weeks, adding to growing pressure on Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure and its alternative oil-export routes.
The 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery, located on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast near the border with Yemen, was shut down in late July after an earlier Houthi attack caused damage to the facility.
The Houthis subsequently claimed another attack on the refinery last week, making Tuesday’s reported strike the third in the latest sequence of attacks.
The repeated targeting of Jazan comes as the Houthis have expanded threats against Saudi oil infrastructure and shipments moving through the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The escalation is particularly significant for Saudi Arabia because the Red Sea has become increasingly important as an alternative route for crude exports that would otherwise move through the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi Arabia has responded to the heightened security risks by rerouting part of its crude exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu through the Suez Canal and Egypt’s Sidi Kerir terminal on the Mediterranean.
The disruption is also changing the behaviour of international buyers and shipowners.
Some Asian refiners have reportedly asked Saudi Aramco to make crude available at Sidi Kerir, as vessel operators become increasingly reluctant to transit the Bab el-Mandeb Strait because of the risk of Houthi attacks.
The latest attack claim comes as efforts to reach a broader understanding between the United States and Iran remain stalled, leaving the region exposed to further military escalation.
The combination of restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and growing threats around Bab el-Mandeb has increased the vulnerability of Middle Eastern oil flows, with disruptions at either chokepoint capable of increasing freight costs, lengthening voyage times and tightening global crude markets.