Houthis strike Saudi air base as Gulf-Iran talks collapse

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired dozens of missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia's King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait on Monday, claiming hits on aircraft hangars, radar systems, runways, and ammunition depots, as Gulf Arab states postponed planned negotiations with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz.cbc+2

A New Front in the Middle East War

The Houthis described the strike as retaliation for what they said were more than 300 Saudi airstrikes on Yemen over the previous five days. Saudi civil defense authorities issued emergency alerts in Khamis Mushait, Abha, and other southern cities. Saudi Arabia responded with 54 additional strikes across western Yemen over a 24-hour period, according to AFP.jpost+1

The attack followed a rapid Houthi advance along Yemen's Red Sea coast. The group seized the strategic port city of Mocha on Sept. 10 and captured Perim Island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait the following day, gaining a foothold at the mouth of one of the world's most important shipping lanes. The UN reported Sunday that nearly 86,000 people have been displaced by the fighting.reuters+3

Oil Supply Under Pressure

Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, the main alternative route for oil exports bypassing the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, remained shut after a Sept. 10 drone attack that Riyadh attributed to Iran-backed fighters in Iraq. Regional officials told the Associated Press the pipeline could be offline for weeks, a disruption traders say could cut off as much as four percent of global oil supply. Crude oil prices rose more than three percent on Monday, and the average U.S. retail diesel price hit a new all-time high above $6.23 a gallon.ttnews+2

Diplomacy Stalls, Tensions Mount

Oman announced late Sunday that a meeting between Iran and Gulf states, scheduled for Monday in Salalah to discuss reopening the Strait of Hormuz, had been indefinitely postponed. Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi said the delay was made "in the interests of consensus". Iran said the postponement came at the request of "some regional countries".reuters+3

Separately, Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority placed 77 vessels on a blacklist for allegedly violating its transit protocols in the Strait of Hormuz, warning of "fines, detention, or confiscation" for future crossings. Commercial vessel traffic through the strait fell to single digits per day over the weekend, well below the 10-day average of 14 vessels, according to ship-tracking data reported by Reuters.middleeasteye+1

Washington has so far rebuffed pleas from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to intervene in Yemen, with three sources telling Reuters that President Trump declined the requests. Trump said over the weekend he expected the war to end shortly after November's midterm elections, after which oil prices would "drop like a rock".cbc