Gulf states scrap Iran talks as Houthis strike Saudi Arabia

Economy HouthisiranSaudi Arabiauswar Gulf states scrap Iran talks as Houthis strike Saudi Arabia Ormouz Ploia Relevant News Kremlin defends drone strike near Poland border 14 September 2026 Sweden’s centre-left set for narrow election win 14 September 2026 Latsi fire brought under control, aircraft not needed 14 September 2026 Newsroom 14 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Gulf Arab states cancelled a meeting with Iran that had been due to take place on Monday, Reuters reported, as Yemen’s Houthi movement launched a fresh attack on Saudi Arabia. The fighting has pulled a new front into the wider Middle East war and further threatens global oil supplies. The Iran-aligned Houthis said they fired dozens of missiles and drones on Monday at a Saudi military airbase in Khamis Mushait, near the Yemeni border, striking aircraft hangars, radar systems, runways and ammunition depots. They called the strike retaliation for hundreds of Saudi air raids on Yemen in recent days. Saudi authorities issued brief emergency alerts in Khamis Mushait and three other southern cities that have been targeted by Houthi fire before. The Houthis launched a rapid advance in Yemen last week, seizing an island at the mouth of the Red Sea on Friday. A separate attack that day, which Riyadh blamed on Iran-backed fighters in Iraq, put Saudi Arabia’s east-west pipeline out of action, the main route for Middle Eastern oil that bypasses the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices jump Crude oil prices rose more than 3 per cent on Monday as markets reopened after the weekend. In the United States, the average retail price of diesel, a politically sensitive figure, hit a new record above $6.23 a gallon. Traders warned that the closure of the Saudi pipeline could remove as much as 4 per cent of global oil supply unless it reopens within days. Satellite images show sections of the pipeline damaged by fire, and Riyadh has not given a firm timeline for when it will resume operating. Oman had been due to host talks on Monday between Iran and Gulf states aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil shipping route, which has been largely closed since the United States and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February. Oman’s Foreign Minister, Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, announced overnight that the meeting had been postponed “in the interests of consensus.” Iran said the postponement had come at Saudi Arabia’s request. Iran also published a list of 77 ships it accused of violating its rules for operating in the Strait of Hormuz. Any vessel on the list would face “restrictions on future passages, including fines, detention, or confiscation,” and other ships found to be helping them by transferring cargo would be added to the list too. Expansion of war to Yemen poses dilemma for Trump The escalation in Yemen presents a dilemma for Washington, which is under pressure to support its Saudi allies but wary of expanding a costly war into a new front. Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition fighting the Houthis for more than a decade, since the group seized Yemen’s capital in 2014. The conflict had been largely quiet under a ceasefire in recent years, but fighting has resumed, with the Houthis pushing back forces loyal to Yemen’s Saudi-backed government in the south. Thousands of Yemenis have fled inland from the coast to escape the fighting, as the Houthis swept into cities including the historic Red Sea port of Mocha last week. Aisha Muhammad, an elderly woman burning twigs to heat a kettle in government-held territory near Taiz, told Reuters she had left behind two daughters and three sons who had been unable to escape. “They can’t even go out to the market to get food and drinking water. They are being blocked and shot at, so they are trapped inside their homes,” she said. “They cannot reach us, and we cannot return to them. This is a trial from God.” On Friday, the Houthis captured Perim Island, inside the Bab el-Mandeb strait, known as the “Gate of Tears,” at the mouth of the Red Sea. US President Donald Trump is under pressure to bring the war to an end, in order to ease the global energy shortage and lower prices that are hurting his Republican Party’s prospects ahead of November’s mid-term elections. Three sources told Reuters that Washington has so far turned down requests from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to intervene in Yemen. Trump confirmed over the weekend that he had spoken to the Crown Prince, and said the Houthis had also called Washington asking it to stay out of the dispute. The United States bombed the Houthis for two months in 2025, but Trump ended the campaign after reaching a ceasefire with the group, which he said had promised not to attack ships in the Red Sea. Speaking while attending a golf tournament at one of his resorts in Ireland, Trump said he expected the war with Iran to end shortly after November’s elections, after which he said the price of oil would “drop like a rock.” (Reuters) Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Kremlin defends drone strike near Poland border Sweden’s centre-left set for narrow election win Latsi fire brought under control, aircraft not needed 52 years on, and Cyprus still doesn’t know where its dead are Reforms that count, not just hot air ‘Black van’ case: Deputy AG’s conflict claim could not have been probed, AG says A new chapter, an old divide Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.