Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed missile and drone strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities in Jizan and Yanbu on 25 July 2026, marking the first direct attack on a major Saudi refinery in years and widening the Middle East conflict to a second critical energy corridor. The assault came as the United States held back from bombing Iran for the first time in roughly two weeks, with President Trump saying Tehran was getting “serious” in talks.
The Houthis said the operation was retaliation for Saudi-led airstrikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah and Kamaran Island a day earlier. The group’s military spokesman vowed “escalation with escalation” and declared the attacks “accurate and direct,” claiming dozens of ballistic missiles and drones were used. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed the strikes, but civil defence alerts were briefly issued in both cities before being lifted.
Open-source satellite data showed thermal anomalies consistent with fires at the Jizan refinery complex, and geolocated video circulated on social media showing smoke plumes. The Jizan facility is one of Saudi Arabia’s newest and largest downstream plants, designed to process up to 400,000 barrels per day. No official damage assessment or production outage has been reported.