Houthis Strike Saudi Refinery Days After Defence Pact Signed
Thestandard · 2 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Saudi Aramco's Jazan refinery with a drone on Sunday, only two days after the kingdom signed a defence pact with Turkey and Pakistan in response to growing regional instability from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran . The Saudi energy ministry confirmed a fire broke out at the refinery but was later extinguished with no injuries, without specifying the cause . Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the attack on social media and announced separate missile and drone strikes on the Yemeni Red Sea port city of Mocha .
Key Points
- The Houthis used a drone to target the Jazan refinery, which processes 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day in southwestern Saudi Arabia .
- Saudi Arabia signed a defence pact with Turkey and Pakistan stipulating that an armed attack against any of the three would be regarded as an attack on all .
- It remains unclear whether or how Pakistan or Turkey would join any Saudi response to the latest attacks .
- The Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea last month, citing a Saudi siege that Riyadh denies .
- The Houthis also struck Mocha port, near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait, which provides Saudi Arabia an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz .
Why It Matters
The attack on a major oil facility underscores how regional conflicts directly threaten global energy supplies, with potential consequences for oil prices that affect Hong Kong's transport costs and inflation. The new Saudi-Turkey-Pakistan alliance risks further polarising the Middle East along sectarian lines, complicating diplomatic and trade relationships that Hong Kong businesses maintain across the region .
The attack on a major oil facility underscores how regional conflicts directly threaten global energy supplies, with potential consequences for oil prices that affect Hong Kong's transport costs and inflation. The new Saudi-Turkey-Pakistan alliance risks further polarising the Middle East along sectarian lines, complicating diplomatic and trade relationships that Hong Kong businesses maintain across the region .