Concerns over the security of global shipping lanes intensified on Thursday after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement claimed attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, while US President Donald Trump warned he would retaliate against any Iranian attempt to target commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil prices climbed for a second straight session on Wednesday, with Brent crude rising above $92 a barrel, as investors weighed the risk of widening supply disruptions from the escalating Middle East conflict.
Saudi Arabia has strongly condemned Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement's threat to impose a shipping blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, opening a potentially dangerous new front in the escalating US-Iran conflict.
The United States and Iran exchanged a fresh wave of military strikes for a sixth consecutive night, deepening fears of a wider regional conflict as Tehran prepared to expand its pressure on global energy supplies by threatening to shut another critical maritime chokepoint at the entrance to the Red Sea.
The risk of an expanded Iran war grew as Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on Saturday launched their first attacks on Israel since the start of the conflict, as additional US forces reached the Middle East. The first of two contingents of Marines arrived on an amphibious assault ship.
Three ballistic missiles launched by the terrorist Houthi militia, two toward Riyadh and one toward Khamis Mushait, were intercepted and destroyed by the forces of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, said the coalition spokesman Major General Turki Al-Malki.
High-level meeting in Tehran ends with agreement to continue dialogue on regional peace and security, even as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia intensify and Egypt signals readiness to support the kingdom's defence.
King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh has resumed limited operations, two weeks after a deadly Houthi missile attack forced its closure, even as the Saudi-led coalition launched military operations against the Iran-backed group in Yemen, destroying missile launchers.
Dammam's King Fahd International Airport was targeted by an attack on Wednesday evening, killing one person, said Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA).
Egypt has signalled its readiness to provide military support to Saudi Arabia to defend the kingdom against escalating Houthi attacks, as the UAE and Saudi Arabia stepped up high-level consultations on regional security amid growing fears of a wider Middle East conflict.
