The conflict in Yemen intensified on Sunday as government forces launched attacks against Iran-backed Houthi rebels along the Red Sea coast, while the Houthis fired into neighboring Saudi Arabia, which backs the Yemeni government. Yemen’s government pledged to deploy additional forces to the Red Sea coastal region following a defeat last week when Houthi fighters captured the port city of Mokha and an island on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The strait serves as the southern gateway to the Red Sea and provides a crucial alternative shipping route for Saudi energy products while the Strait of Hormuz remains severely disrupted by the U.S.-Iran war. This escalation between the Houthis and the Saudi military has intensified pressure on global oil supplies, driving crude prices near four-month highs by threatening further restrictions on Saudi oil exports. Meanwhile, Oman’s foreign minister announced that a meeting scheduled for Monday in Muscat with Iran and other regional nations to discuss the Strait of Hormuz has been postponed. Iranian foreign ministry official Mohammad Ali Bak stated that Iran and Oman agreed to delay the talks at the request of several regional countries. According to a Gulf official, Saudi Arabia submitted amendments to the proposed Iran-Oman agreement over concerns that the pact could negatively impact other Gulf Cooperation Council members. Iran, Oman, and mediating nation Pakistan had previously expressed optimism regarding a new mechanism to regulate commercial traffic through the strategic waterway. Amid these mounting geopolitical tensions, international benchmark Brent crude rose 3.2% to $107.94 per barrel, up from roughly $72 before the war began in late February. U.S. benchmark crude similarly climbed 3.2% to $103.26 per barrel. In diplomatic developments, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian stated on Sunday that Iran and the United Arab Emirates intend to improve relations. Following a meeting with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khaled Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in India, Pezeshkian noted that both sides agreed to move past earlier conflicts. The UAE had suspended trade and financial exchanges with Iran in August after bearing the brunt of regional retaliatory strikes following joint U.S. and Israel attacks on Iran in late February.
Source: cbsnews.com
