Saudi Arabia launched waves of strikes against Houthi oil infrastructure in Sana'a and the Ras Isa port in Hodeidah on Tuesday, marking the most direct assault on rebel energy assets since the current phase of fighting began. The strikes hit the Central Sabaha Station oil depot on Sana'a's western outskirts — although Yemen's Oil Company said the storage facilities were empty — and the Hodeidah targets previously hit by Israel in 2024. A Saudi spokesperson warned civilians to leave the area beforehand, a move read as psychological warfare as much as humanitarian protocol. The trigger was Saturday's Houthi drone and missile attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, which killed 13 people and injured 300. The airport remains closed until at least Saturday, a direct blow to Saudi Arabia's campaign to attract foreign investment and project stability. Baraa Shiban of RUSI warned that the Houthis have improved their arms technology significantly: smaller, lower-flying drones that evade interception at a fraction of the cost of Saudi air defences. "It does not take many to get through to be effective," he said. The escalation has now crossed into mutual threats against energy infrastructure. The Houthis responded to the oil depot strikes by warning all employees near Aramco facilities in Riyadh to evacuate, calling them "legitimate targets." Saudi Arabia retains complete air dominance over Yemen, but the asymmetry cuts both ways — cheap Houthi drones against expensive Saudi air defences creates an attrition equation that favours the insurgents on cost-per-strike. On the ground, the Houthis continue pushing south toward Taiz, firing rockets into residential areas. City leaders have made repeated appeals for military equipment, and public health professionals warn of medicine shortages for patients in intensive care. Government-aligned forces sent reinforcements to Al-Mudarabba in Lahij and the mountain district of Al-Waz'iyya, but the anti-Houthi coalition is fractured. The Southern Transitional Council, whose primary aim is southern secession, is taking a more prominent combat role even as its leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi remains exiled in Abu Dhabi and charged with treason in Yemen. Zubaidi gave a rare address declaring "a popular mobilisation in defence of the south, and its national liberation project." Behind-the-scenes talks are testing whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will legitimise the STC and permit Zubaidi's return — a move that would effectively sideline Yemen's president, Rashad al-Alimi, whose value to Riyadh diminishes without Zubaidi's military forces at his disposal. Donald Trump called the Houthis "badly behaved" and said he would "never forget" their attacks, which he suggested were aimed at influencing US midterm elections. He stopped short of announcing any military action. The latest phase of Saudi-Houthi conflict began after the Houthis seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — the chokepoint for Gulf oil transit at the southern end of the Red Sea. The structural picture is clear: an asymmetric war where Saudi Arabia's conventional superiority is being eroded by cheap, improving Houthi drone technology, while both sides escalate toward targeting the one thing that makes the region globally relevant — energy infrastructure. The anti-Houthi coalition is internally divided between a nominal government, a secessionist movement, and a Saudi patron with competing interests. Every week of escalation increases the risk to Bab el-Mandeb shipping and global energy prices, with civilians in Taiz and Sana'a bearing the direct costs.
