Saudi shuts East-West pipeline as Houthis tighten grip near Bab el-Mandeb

Saudi Arabia said on Friday it had shut down its East-West pipeline a day after a drone attack, while Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels captured Mayun island and seized Mokha on the Red Sea coast, widening the conflict involving Iran and raising fresh concerns over energy supplies and shipping.

The Houthi gains along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world's key shipping lanes, have added to pressure on Saudi Arabia's export routes. The developments also triggered an Iraqi investigation, fresh calls from Iran for talks, and warnings that the escalation could wreck Yemen's fragile truce and deepen the humanitarian crisis.

The Saudi Ministry of Energy said the pipeline shutdown was 'a precautionary measure'. Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry blamed the attack on several drones that it said came from Iraq, and said the kingdom would not respond in order 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 found that attacks targeting Saudi Arabia were launched from a site in the province, government spokesperson Sabah al-Numan said early on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia and the United States had bombed Iran-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 had told The Associated Press that the Houthis helped the Iraqi militias plan and carry out those attacks.

Built in the 1980s, the East-West pipeline has been central to Saudi Arabia's ability to export oil when the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted. 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 a day, according to the International Energy Agency. The capture of Mayun, a small volcanic island inside the strait also known as Perim, was confirmed by a senior military official with Yemen's internationally recognised government and a Houthi official, both of whom spoke anonymously because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has increasingly used the Red Sea as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been attacking ships. Houthi attempts to close the 28-kilometre-wide Bab el-Mandeb channel have made that route harder to use. In a statement on Friday, the Houthi armed forces claimed gains along the coast, without mentioning the island, Mokha or the strait, and vowed 'escalation for escalation'. They also said 'maritime navigation is safe for all companies except for Saudi vessels.' Markets have remained tense, and crude prices this week rose again above USD 100 a barrel.

The Houthis have been attacking Saudi shipping in the Red Sea since declaring a blockade in July, and have also hit oil infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia. The rebels said they were acting in response to Saudi Arabia's years-long blockade of Houthi-held areas of Yemen. After the Houthis seized Mokha on Thursday, Saudi Arabia struck the airport in the port city, according to a Houthi broadcaster. There were no reports of damage or deaths.

A senior military official with Yemen's internationally recognised government told AP that they were stunned the Saudi air force did not try to stop the capture of Mokha, about 80 kilometres from the strait. He said Saudi Arabia appeared not to have received a green light from the US for a large-scale air campaign. The official also blamed a 'lack of coordination' between Yemen's army and multiple allied militias, saying it gave the Houthis 'a priceless opportunity'.

Shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait had fallen by about 60 per cent since the Houthis began attacking some vessels there in late 2023 while expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Shipping rose this year as Saudi Arabia looked for alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, but renewed Houthi threats have 'curtailed' that activity, according to Lloyd's List Intelligence. Saudi Arabia has therefore been forced to send oil north out of the Red Sea to the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal or a pipeline in Egypt, a much longer route for Asian buyers. The Houthis have threatened that route too, and struck a Saudi vessel in the northern Red Sea in late August.

Earlier on Friday, Iran called for an end to Saudi Arabia's blockade of Houthi-held areas and for negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis to resume. In another sign of the Houthis' importance to Tehran, a spokesperson for Iran's Revolutionary Guard said on Wednesday that any negotiated settlement with the US should include Yemen. Saudi Arabia said it had always offered 'opportunities for negotiation' and also had the right to defend itself. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on social media that the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia had spoken on Thursday about efforts to 'restore stability'.

As the Houthis advanced along the Red Sea coast towards the Bab el-Mandeb channel, Yemen's Saudi-backed government called for international support. Its National Defence Council said on Friday that it was on the 'front line of defending freedom of navigation' and condemned the Houthis' renewed attacks on Saudi Arabia. The latest fighting threatens a fragile truce that has largely held since 2022. Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, has a population of 40 million, and the war has killed 150,000 people and pushed many others to the brink of famine.

The UN migration agency said on Friday that more than 46,000 people had fled in the past week. People seeking safety left with 'whatever they can grab', said Abdusattor Esoev, mission chief in Yemen for the International Organisation for Migration. 'You see the fears in their eyes, and people are scared,' he said, adding that the number displaced had more than doubled this week and could rise further. Those fleeing included doctors and other medical workers. Lou Cormack, Yemen coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, said the aid group had prioritised keeping Mokha's hospital open after most of its staff left.

The Houthis have been fighting Yemen's government since 2014, when they seized much of northern and central Yemen, including Sanaa, and Saudi Arabia joined the war the following year in support of the government. With Saudi Arabia shutting a key pipeline, the Houthis tightening their grip on parts of the Red Sea coast, Iran backing a return to talks, and thousands more civilians on the move, the latest escalation has again put shipping, oil exports and Yemen's truce under strain.