Iran and the United States traded fresh threats on Sunday after a Houthi missile and drone attack on Riyadh added a new front to a conflict that has already choked off most Gulf oil exports. Iranian commanders warned of sustained retaliation against US bases, while President Trump said Iran's leaders should strike a deal or face economic ruin.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi group launched missile and drone strikes at the Saudi capital on Saturday, sending a plume of black smoke over the area of Riyadh's main international airport. The strike followed sudden Houthi military gains in Yemen's reignited civil war earlier this month.
Saudi Arabia did not comment on the attack, though a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it had foiled other strikes on the kingdom. The US State Department issued a security alert citing the Houthi hostilities, warning Americans of possible flight cancellations and airspace closures.
Houthi gains open a second chokepoint
The Houthis' advance along Yemen's coast means the group's forces now sit on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, handing them easier control over shipping between the Red Sea and Asia and the ability to blockade that waterway too. That adds a second pressure point to a conflict in which Iran has already blockaded most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, cutting the Gulf's energy exports almost entirely from global markets and pressuring oil prices.
A separate US blockade of Iranian ports is stopping Iran from selling its own oil, deepening the strain on the Islamic Republic's economy. Yet despite the damage on both sides, there is little sign of a return to the interim ceasefire that was struck in June but collapsed in July amid disputes over its terms. Iran reiterated on Sunday that it would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the terms of that June agreement, as it interprets them, are met.
Trump and Iran trade new warnings
In a call with a Fox News reporter, Trump said Iran's leaders should make a deal, or the country would rot economically or see its leadership wiped out, the reporter said. Trump added he would be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is expected in New York this week for the UN General Assembly.
Iran's military central command said any new attack would trigger sustained retaliation against US bases and interests, and that Washington's regional allies would be treated as parties to the conflict. The command added it had information that an attack was being prepared, without elaborating on what that information might be.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Iran would have to keep fighting as well as negotiating, to push back its enemies and consolidate any gains through diplomacy. The conflict, which began with US and Israeli strikes on February 28, has looked stalemated for months even as it deepens a global energy crisis.
Source: Commodities & Futures News
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