Houthis fire missiles at Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura refinery

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday they fired a ballistic missile at Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery.

The group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, stated that the strike ignited a fire at the complex. Ras Tanura is the kingdom’s largest refinery, with a daily processing capacity of 550,000 barrels. It sits on the Gulf coast west of the Strait of Hormuz and includes a shipping terminal. Saree also claimed the Houthis hit the Saudi Ministry of Defense with a ballistic missile and Abha International Airport with a drone.

Saudi authorities did not confirm any of these specific strikes. However, civil defense officials briefly issued an air raid alert in the capital, Riyadh, on Tuesday afternoon. The Saudi-led coalition announced that it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched toward the city by the Houthis.

Saree reported that Houthi forces attacked two military transport jets at Najran Airport and an airbase in Khamis Mushait. The group also said it repelled an advance by Saudi-backed forces near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a key Red Sea shipping route. Earlier in the month, Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces pushed Houthis out of coastal areas they had seized in September.

Bloomberg News cited a person familiar with the matter who said Saudi Arabia contained a fire near the Ras Tanura terminal. The facility had previously been shut down as a precaution during the early months of the Iran war, which began eight months ago. Nearly all Saudi oil exports pass through Ras Tanura and the Red Sea port of Yanbu, both of which the Houthis have targeted in the past.

Houthi media reported that Saudi strikes hit the Yemeni city of Mocha, though Saudi officials did not immediately confirm the attack. The fighting has shattered a 2022 UN-brokered truce between the coalition and the Houthis, who control Sanaa. On Monday, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan met Iranian officials in Tehran to reduce regional tensions. The Egyptian parliament authorized its military on Monday to help defend Saudi Arabia if requested, as Egypt considers joining a mutual defense pact with those three nations.

The Ras Tanura refinery remains a critical node for the country's energy output. The Houthis continue to operate from their stronghold in Sanaa, coordinating attacks across the Red Sea and Gulf regions.