Things warming up - or just Iran posturing? In The Times this afternoon.
Houthi missile hits main Saudi oil terminal as US envoy opens talks
The Iran-backed Houthi rebel movement in Yemen claimed to have carried out a successful missile strike on Saudi Arabia’s main west coast oil terminal in Jeddah today.
The group’s spokesman said that they had used a Quds-2 missile, believed to be a new variant of a Scud missile developed with Iranian assistance. A Quds-2 hit the same facility in the Red Sea port city in November, starting a fire. Saudi Aramco, the giant state-owned oil company that owns the facility, has not confirmed the latest attack.
The attack comes in the middle of an escalation in Yemen’s civil war following pressure from the Biden administration on Saudi Arabia to pull back from its support of the recognised government.
The administration refused to comment on reports overnight that the new US envoy to Yemen, Timothy Lenderking, had met Houthi representatives in Oman, which has often played a role in mediating crises in the Gulf.
However, the Houthis have seized the opportunity provided by the new pressure on Saudi Arabia to launch attacks both on the kingdom and on government lines inside Yemen. There has been fierce fighting, killing hundreds of fighters on either side in the last month as the Houthis have pressed an offensive on the key central Yemen city of Marib, which is close to the country’s main oil reserves.
They have also rapidly increased the number of missile attacks over the border into Saudi Arabia. Riyadh reported overnight that its defence systems had intercepted two drones and a missile fired at points in southwest Saudi Arabia.
The situation in Yemen is the first big test of Biden’s determination to “recalibrate” policy towards the Middle East, as his aides have described it. Like President Obama, he believes that engaging diplomatically with Iran, including by rejoining the 2015 nuclear deal, is the best way to bring peace to the region and allow the US to refocus its energies elsewhere.
However, Iran has so far rejected an offer of talks over the nuclear deal, insisting that Biden must rejoin it unconditionally. In Yemen the Saudi-backed government fears that rather than making peace in response to US overtures, the Houthis will seize the military advantage, leading to a division into two of the country.