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The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for a drone strike against an Aramco refinery in Jazan, southwestern Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, marking the latest in an escalating series of attacks on the kingdom. Military spokesman Yahya Saree characterized the assault as retaliation for Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni airspace over Hajjah and Saada provinces. The Saudi Energy Ministry confirmed a fire broke out at the facility with no reported injuries and stated the blaze was contained, though authorities did not specify what ignited it.
Sunday’s assault continues a pattern of missile and drone strikes targeting Saudi Arabia and commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea. The violence raises concerns about renewed conflict in Yemen’s four-year-old civil war, which had seen major fighting halted following a 2022 ceasefire agreement in the conflict-ravaged nation.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, through secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, declared the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States fundamentally alters its approach. The council’s statement demanded permanent cessation of hostilities, removal of naval blockades on Iranian ports, complete American military withdrawal from the region, and full compensation for war damages alongside the lifting of all sanctions and release of frozen assets.
The Pentagon announced Saturday that it is accelerating munitions procurement to supply warfighting capabilities at a faster pace. According to analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the ongoing conflict has depleted the U.S. military’s already reduced inventories of advanced missile interceptors, prompting the modernization initiative that predates the five-month conflict.
Iran and Oman are finalizing a temporary accord to reopen the strategically vital waterway, with vessels transiting through routes adjacent to each nation without fees during the interim period. The arrangement is intended to reinstate a prior U.S.-Iran agreement and initiate a 60-day negotiating window on Iran’s nuclear program, pending approval from Gulf Cooperation Council members and joint announcement by Iran, Oman, the United States, and the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization.
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