President Donald Trump directed the U.S. military on Friday not to conduct new strikes in Iran, breaking a streak of 13 nights of daily attacks, according to two sources with knowledge of the decision reported by Axios. The pause in hostilities occurred as Iran-aligned Houthi militants in Yemen launched attacks on Saudi Arabian oil installations along the Red Sea coast.
Houthi Attacks on Saudi Oil Infrastructure
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree announced that the group successfully struck sites belonging to the Saudi state oil giant Aramco in the Red Sea port towns of Jizan and Yanbu. Greek security sources stated that in Yanbu, a US-made Patriot battery operated by the Greek military under an agreement with Riyadh intercepted two ballistic missiles aimed at oil installations. Video verified by Reuters showed a large column of smoke rising from the direction of the Aramco refinery in Jizan.
The targeted locations are critical to regional energy flows:
- Yanbu: Saudi Arabia’s main Red Sea oil port where millions of barrels a day are loaded. It serves as the primary route for Saudi oil to skirt the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blockaded by Iran.
- Jizan: Located near the Yemeni border, this site contains a refinery with a capacity of 400,000 barrels per day.
The group also attacked two Saudi-linked oil tankers in the Red Sea.
U.S. Strategy and Diplomatic Efforts
The decision to halt strikes follows 13 days of U.S. operations in retaliation for Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which occurred after an interim deal to end hostilities collapsed. While President Trump told reporters at the White House that he maintains the option of escalating by knocking out everything they have,
he described a smarter strategy
as being to “make a dealwith Iran.
The pause in military action coincided with the arrival of an Omani delegation in Tehran on Friday for talks regarding a new arrangement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Escalation of the Yemeni Civil War
The conflict in the Red Sea signals a potential reigniting of Yemen’s civil war, which had been paused under a ceasefire since 2022. In response to Houthi aggression, the Saudi-led military alliance bombed Houthi positions in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah on Friday.
Additionally, the air force of the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government struck Houthi arms depots and missile and drone launch sites in the al-Jawf and Marib provinces. Yemeni officials reported that both sides of the civil war are currently mobilizing forces along the front.
Impact on Global Energy Markets
The combined effect of the U.S.-Iran clashes and the Houthi opening of a “second front” has severely squeezed regional energy flows. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which typically handles a fifth of global crude supplies, remains largely paralyzed. These disruptions have caused global oil prices to soar; Brent crude spiked above $100 a barrel for the first time since May and closed on Friday at $96.78 a barrel, representing an increase of approximately 27% over the last two weeks.
