Houthis escalate Red Sea crisis with missile and drone attack on Saudi Arabia

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement said on Saturday that it had launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia in response to Saudi airstrikes on the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeida.

AzerNEWS reports, citing The latest escalation comes amid growing tensions over vital maritime shipping routes in the Middle East, as the United States and Iran remain locked in a wider confrontation over control and security in the Strait of Hormuz.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said in a prerecorded statement that the group's attack targeted Aramco facilities in the Red Sea cities of Yanbu and Jizan.

The Houthis said the strikes were carried out in retaliation for Saudi airstrikes on Hodeida, a strategically important port city on Yemen's Red Sea coast.

The developments mark a further escalation in tensions surrounding regional maritime security, with the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz facing growing risks to commercial shipping and energy supplies.