Saudis reported to ask Trump for military help to combat Houthi advance
Saudi Arabia has shut down its east-west oil pipeline after the vital conduit came under aerial attack in the widening Middle East war, threatening to send energy prices even higher.
The world’s largest crude oil exporter temporarily closed the pipeline after a drone attack that both Baghdad and Riyadh said had originated in Iraq, where Iranian-backed militias operate. Iraq yesterday dismissed a military commander in response to the attack.
The 1,200-km pipeline running across the Arabian Peninsula had helped Saudi Arabia bypass a shipping logjam in the Strait of Hormuz, where tanker traffic has slowed to a trickle due to the six-month war between the US and Iran.
The Saudi energy ministry said it had shut the pipeline as a “precaution”. The line has been moving between four and five million barrels per day in recent months, amounting to 4pc/5pc of global supply.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the strike on the pipeline. Satellite images showed black smoke rising from an area of the pipeline south of Medina. The attack resulted in some injuries and damage that was being assessed, the Saudi foreign ministry said, without detailing the impact on exports.
Speaking in Dublin, US president Donald Trump said Iran was probably to blame for the attack. The war he launched six months ago would probably end shortly after the US midterm elections in November, when oil prices would “come tumbling down”, he added.
Oil prices have shot up over the past week. Petrol prices in Ireland yesterday averaged €1.85 to €1.95 per litre, with diesel often topping €2 per litre at some forecourts. In the US, the retail price of diesel in the US surged past a record $6 a gallon (€1.37 per litre) for the first time, as the United States and Iran both fired on tankers in the Gulf and the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen tightened their grip in the Red Sea.
Four Yemeni government sources told Reuters that the Houthis on Friday had seized the strategic island of Perim at the mouth of the Red Sea, in the Bab el-Mandeb strait.
Two sources told Reuters that Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, phoned Trump last week and asked for US military help in fighting the Houthis. He was told that Washington would not intervene directly for now, but would help with intelligence.
Trump confirmed yesterday that he had spoken to the S
prince, and said the Houthis had also phoned his administration
and asked for Washington not to become directly involved in the
conflict.
The dual attacks reported on Friday — on the pipeline and
Perim Island — could represent a dangerous escalation while
diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled. Saudi crude
pumped through the pipeline to the Red Sea has been the main
alternative source of Middle East oil while access to the Gulf
has been cut off throughout the war.
In a post on X on Saturday, Ebrahim Azizi, head of the
Iranian parliament’s national security committee, said: “As long
as the American side does not accept all of Iran’s conditions,
dialogue and negotiation are of no use.”
Iran wants its control of the Strait of Hormuz to be
recognised, allowing it to collect fees from ships that use it,
which Washington rejects. The Iranian foreign ministry said on
Friday that Iran would meet with Gulf states in Oman on Monday
to discuss the strait. Oman has yet to publicly confirm such a
meeting.
The dismissed Iraqi military commander had led operations in
Maysan province, according to Saturday’s statement by the Iraqi
prime minister’s office. The province, which borders Iran in
southeastern Iraq, has long been regarded as an area where
Iran-backed Shi’ite militias operate and maintain influence.
Saudi Arabia has opted against retaliation so far, following
a request from the Iraqi prime minister, the Saudi Foreign
Ministry said in a statement, though adding that the kingdom
reserves the right to “take all measures necessary” to protect
its interests. Iraq’s government condemned the attacks.
Iraq ordered the closure of the Shalamcheh border crossing
with Iran as a precautionary measure, two security sources told
Reuters. The crossing serves as one of the main routes for the
import to Iraq of vegetables and other food supplies from Iran.
The two sources said a wide-scale operation was under way to
find those responsible for the pipeline attack.
SAUDI-BACKED FORCES PLAN COUNTERATTACK
Saudi crude supply fell to the lowest levels in more than
three decades, the International Energy Agency said on Friday,
partly due to attacks on ships transiting Bab el-Mandeb by
Houthi-linked groups.
Saudi-backed forces of the Yemeni government based in the
south indicated they would try to retake areas captured this
week in the lightning offensive by the Houthis, mountain
fighters who seized Yemen’s capital 12 years ago and withstood
years of devastating Saudi airstrikes during Yemen’s civil war.
Reuters reported on Thursday that the dramatic Houthi
advance down Yemen’s Red Sea coast came with direct guidance
from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Iran told the Houthis last week to escalate their attacks on
Saudi Arabia and promised more funding, weapons and senior
officers to help them do so, two Iranian sources said.
Iran describes the Houthis as an ally but publicly denies
giving them military direction.
The Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said maritime
navigation remained safe for all shipping except Saudi vessels
subject to a previously announced ban.
(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari in Aden, Eman Abouhassira and
Maha El Dahan in Dubai, Yasmine Ghania, Menna AlaaElDin and
Ahmed Tolba in Cairo, Catherine Cartier in Beirut, Samia Nakhoul
in Ankara, and Jacob Bogage in Washington; Writing by Daniel
Trotta; Editing by Kim Coghill and Tom Hogue)