Iran-backed Houthi rebels attack crucial Red Sea port and Saudi Aramco refinery as fighting escalates

Yemen’s Houthis attacked a crucial port on the Red Sea, killing people and further escalating the conflict over strategic waterways in the Middle East. They also said they attacked an oil facility on Sunday in southwestern Saudi Arabia, the latest attack by the Iranian-backed rebels on the kingdom.

Meanwhile, Iran has made new demands about the restart of negotiations and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the Pentagon is pressing the U.S. defense industry to accelerate production of weapons and Israel is insisting it won’t withdraw from Gaza until Hamas disarms.

Here’s a look at developments across the Middle East on Sunday. Full coverage can be found here.

Houthis target Aramco refinery, Red Sea port

The National Resistance Forces, a Yemeni government-allied force, said at least seven people — four troops and three civilians — were killed and 15 civilians were injured in the Houthis’ attacks Sunday on Mokha, a crucial port on the Red Sea.

Fayed al-Noman, assistant undersecretary of the information ministry, said the Houthis fired missiles and drones on the port, severely damaging its buildings and pier as well as commercial goods and food supplies at the facility.

Mokha is one of the main ports under Yemen’s internationally recognized government, renovated in recent years to handle shipping that avoids the Houthi-held ports in Hodeida.

The Houthis later claimed the attack, saying they fired “a large number of ballistic missiles and drones” that targeted military enforcement and warehouses in the area.

Yahya Saree, a military spokesperson for the Houthis, said they also targeted an Aramco refinery in the city of Jazan with a drone. The attack was in response to Saudi drones’ breaching Yemen’s airspace over the provinces of Hajjah and........

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