Yemen’s Houthi group said on Sunday it carried out a drone attack on Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery, days after Saudi Arabia signed a joint defence agreement with Pakistan and Türkiye amid heightened regional tensions.
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry confirmed that a fire had broken out at the refinery but said it was subsequently extinguished. No injuries were reported, and authorities were responding to the incident. The ministry did not specify what caused the fire.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a post on X that the group had targeted the Jazan facility with a drone.
The Jazan refinery, located in southwestern Saudi Arabia, has the capacity to process around 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The Houthis have previously claimed attacks on Aramco facilities in Jazan as well as targets in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast.
The latest incident comes after the Houthis announced what they described as a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea last month, accusing Riyadh of imposing a blockade on Yemen. Saudi Arabia has rejected the allegation.
In a separate statement, Saree said the Houthis had also carried out missile and drone strikes on Mocha, a Red Sea port city in Yemen controlled by the internationally recognised, Aden-based government backed by Saudi Arabia.
The developments come as diplomatic efforts continue to resolve the wider US-Iran conflict, with Washington and Tehran still divided over the terms of a potential settlement.