As Hormuz Talks Inch Towards Finish Line, Conflict Heats Up in Yemen

On Thursday, Iranian-backed Houthi forces launched attacks on the Saudi border city of Najran and the Yemeni government stronghold at Marib, part of a broader pattern of regional escalation. Saudi intelligence suggests that preparations are under way by Iran-backed militias to launch new strikes on Gulf infrastructure and seaports. The new hostilities could complicate delicate plans to negotiate a truce between Iran, its GCC neighbors and the United States. 

Najran is a small oasis city just north of the Yemeni border, and Houthi forces have repeatedly targeted its airport, claiming that the site is being used to launch surveillance drones over Houthi territory. 11 civilians were wounded in the strike on Thursday, Saudi forces said. The area has strategic relevance: In the civil war period, the Najran region was a launchpad for Saudi incursions across the border, and it was the location of a significant Saudi defeat at the hands of Houthi forces in 2019. 

The Marib area is about 80 miles inland from the Houthi capital at Sanaa, and is a gateway to Yemen’s oilfields. The strikes on government bases in Marib and nearby regions killed more than 30 government soldiers, Yemeni sources told Al Jazeera – the most significant attacks since the Yemeni ceasefire deal was signed in 2022. The numbers are expected to rise.

Saudi military sources have also reported signs of a possible pending Iranian-backed attack by Houthi groups and Iraqi militias, which possess drone capabilities for long-range strikes on Saudi infrastructure. 

“I think they want to coordinate attacks from both north and south,” a Saudi official told CNN, “mostly civilian and economic installations” like seaports and energy facilities – targets which the Houthis have hit before.  

Just yesterday, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said that the group would be intensifying its effort to blockade Saudi ports in the Red Sea, and he pledged to counteract Saudi efforts to ship crude northwards through the Suez Canal – where energy logistics would be out of reach of Houthi targeting.