Saudi Arabia shuts down a pipeline as Houthis seize an island, opening a
new front in the Iran war
[September 12, 2026]
By FATMA KHALED, SAMY MAGDY and CARA ANNA
CAIRO (AP) — Saudi Arabia said Friday it shut down a major pipeline a
day after it was attacked by drones, and Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi
rebels captured a strategic island at the southern entrance to the Red
Sea, two officials said, opening a new front in the Iran war.
The Houthis made their biggest territorial gains in years along the Bab
el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s key shipping lanes. The advance
could boost Iran’s strategy of driving up world oil and gas prices to
pressure the United States.
Saudi Arabia said it had shut down the East-West pipeline after it was
attacked the day before. The Saudi Ministry of Energy called the
shutdown “a precautionary measure.”
The Saudi Foreign Ministry blamed the attack on several drones that came
from Iraq. In a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency,
the kingdom said it would not respond to give the Iraqi government “an
opportunity to take the necessary measures.”
Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who is also commander-in-chief of
the military, ordered an investigation into the Maysan province
operations command and dismissed its commander after authorities
determined that attacks targeting Saudi Arabia were launched from a site
in the province, government spokesperson Sabah al-Numan said in a
statement early Saturday.
Saudi Arabia and the United States bombed Iranian-backed militias in
Iraq in July, after blaming them for drone attacks on Saudi oil
facilities that had been claimed by the Houthis. Regional officials told
The Associated Press that the Houthis helped the Iraqi militias plan and
execute the attacks.
Pipeline was built in the 1980s
Built in the 1980s, the East-West pipeline has played an important role
in Saudi Arabia’s ability to export oil following the disruption of the
Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war. By early June, Saudi Arabia had
more than doubled oil exports from the Red Sea port at the pipeline's
end to more than 5 million barrels per day, according to the
International Energy Agency.
The Houthis' capture of Mayun, a tiny, barren volcanic island inside the
strait also known as Perim, was confirmed by a senior military official
with Yemen’s internationally recognized government and by a Houthi
official. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to talk to journalists.
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has increasingly relied
on the Red Sea to get its crude to market as an alternative to the
Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been striking ships. Houthi efforts to
close the 28-kilometer-wide (17-mile) Bab el-Mandeb channel have made
that route more complicated.
In a statement Friday, the Houthi armed forces boasted of gains along
the coast without mentioning the island, Mokha or the Bab el-Mandeb
Strait. They vowed “escalation for escalation” in the confrontation with
Saudi Arabia, while declaring that “maritime navigation is safe for all
companies except for Saudi vessels.”
Still, markets are nervous, and experts have described the Houthis as
highly unpredictable. Crude prices this week soared again above $100 a
barrel, giving Tehran more leverage in any talks.
Yemen's government was shocked by slow Saudi response
The Houthis have been attacking Saudi shipping on the Red Sea since
declaring a blockade in July, as well as hitting oil infrastructure
inside Saudi Arabia. The rebels said they acted in response to the
kingdom’s yearslong blockade of Houthi-held parts of Yemen.
Saudi Arabia struck the airport in the port city of Mokha after the
Houthis seized it Thursday, a Houthi broadcaster said. There were no
reports of damage or deaths.
A senior military official with Yemen’s internationally recognized
government told the AP they were stunned that the Saudi air force did
not try to prevent the capture of Mokha, about 50 miles (80 kilometers)
from the strait. He assessed that Saudi Arabia didn’t get a green light
from the U.S. to embark on a large-scale air campaign.
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The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t
allowed to speak to the media, also blamed “lack of coordination”
between Yemen’s army and multiple allied militias, saying it gave
the Houthis “a priceless opportunity.”
Shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait had fallen by about 60%
since the Houthis began attacking some ships there in late 2023 and
expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Shipping increased
this year as Saudi Arabia sought alternatives to the Strait of
Hormuz, but renewed Houthi threats have “curtailed” that activity,
according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
That has forced Saudi Arabia to find yet another alternative,
sending its oil north out of the Red Sea to the Mediterranean,
either via the Suez Canal or a pipeline through Egypt, a far longer
route for its clients in Asia. The Houthis have threatened that
route as well, striking a Saudi vessel in the north of the Red Sea
in late August.
Iran calls for a return to Saudi-Houthi talks
Earlier Friday, Iran’s government called for an end to Saudi
Arabia’s blockade of Houthi-held areas in a show of support for its
ally. The Iranian Foreign Ministry also called for a return to
negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
In a sign of the Houthis' importance to Tehran, the spokesperson for
Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard on Wednesday called for any
negotiated settlement with the U.S. to include Yemen, the first
explicit reference to that front.
Saudi Arabia, which said it had always offered “opportunities for
negotiation,” also said it has the right to defend itself. The
foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia spoke Thursday about
diplomatic efforts to “restore stability,” Iranian Foreign Minister
Abbas Araghchi said on social media.
The fighting risks a return to Yemen's civil war
As the Houthis swept along the Red Sea coast toward the Bab
el-Mandeb channel, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government called for
international support.
In a statement Friday from a meeting the previous day, its National
Defense Council said it was on the front line of defending freedom
of navigation and condemned the Houthis’ renewed attacks on Saudi
Arabia.
The escalating fighting threatens to end a fragile truce that had
largely halted Yemen’s civil war since 2022. At stake are 40 million
people in the Arab world’s poorest country. The conflict killed
150,000 and brought many others to the brink of famine.
The surge in fighting in the past week has sent over 46,000 people
fleeing, the U.N. migration agency said Friday.
People seeking safety left with “whatever they can grab,” Abdusattor
Esoev, mission chief in Yemen for the International Organization for
Migration, said Friday. He said the number of people displaced more
than doubled this week and could still rise sharply.
“You see the fears in their eyes, and people are scared,” Esoev
said.
Those fleeing included doctors and other medical workers. Lou
Cormack, Yemen coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, said Friday
that the aid group has prioritized keeping Mokha's hospital open
after most of its staff left.
The Houthis have been at war with Yemen’s government since 2014,
when the rebels seized much of northern and central Yemen and the
capital of Sanaa. Saudi Arabia entered the war the following year on
behalf of the government.
___
Anna reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten
in Geneva and Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo contributed.
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