July 27 (Reuters) – Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they targeted a number of sensitive crude oil supply and transport sites linking eastern Saudi Arabia to the critical Red Sea oil export hub of Yanbu.
Saudi state oil giant Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the operation was in response to what he described as Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni airspace.
Saudi Arabia has re-routed its crude output to Yanbu via its east-west pipeline to get around Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which began after the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Iran in February.
Last week, Iran’s Houthi allies threatened to extend the disruption to global oil supplies to a second major waterway by announcing a blockade of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry in the Red Sea, sending oil prices even higher.
Saudi Arabia has responded with airstrikes on what it said were Houthi military facilities in Yemen’s Hodeidah port, saying it would protect shipping.
(Reporting by Eman Abouhassira and Timour Azhari, Editing my Michael Georgy, Tomasz Janowski and Sharon Singleton)
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