Taiz
\nHouthi rebels claimed a missile strike on Saudi Arabia on Saturday, hours after vowing to retaliate against the kingdom for attacks as the Middle East conflict expanded.
\nRiyadh struck Houthi military targets in Hodeida on Friday, with rebel media reporting two wounded after the Yemeni group announced a maritime blockade of the top oil producer and hit its ships.
\nThe flare-up marks a new front of the war that has engulfed the region following US-Israeli strikes on Tehran in February, and comes on top of Iran\u2019s parallel blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Riyadh\u2019s only other maritime route.
\nThe rebels had accused Saudi Arabia of a \u201cdangerous escalation\u201d and said its actions \u201cwill not go unanswered\u201d.
\nThe Houthis\u2019 Ansarollah media said on Telegram early on Saturday that a \u201cYemeni missile strike\u201d had sparked fires in the southern Saudi city of Jizan on the Red Sea.
\nSaudi Arabia did not immediately comment on the claim.
\nBut Riyadh\u2019s civil defence agency had issued brief warnings to residents in Jizan and Yanbu early Saturday for \u201cpotential danger\u201d, only to lift the warnings minutes later.
\nSimilar warnings have been issued in the past when missiles or drones were fired at the kingdom.
\nThe warning came after the Saudi-led coalition said on Friday it had hit Houthi sites and destroyed targets threatening commercial vessels in response to attacks on Red Sea shipping.<\/p>\n
Blockade
\nThe Yemeni security source, who requested anonymity, said the Saudi strikes targeted a telecommunications building near Hodeida\u2019s port and a naval base at Ras al-Kathib in Hodeida.
\nThe Houthis\u2019 al-Masirah television channel said two people were wounded \u2014 a worker in Hodeida and a woman on Kamaran island.
\nIt said a telecoms building had been hit in Hodeida.
\nOn Monday, the rebels had warned in a radio message to ships that they would target vessels \u201cbelonging to (the) Saudi enemy\u201d that do not comply with their blockade.
\nSaudi state media cited a transport authority official on Friday as saying \u201cthe vessel (NCC MASA), belonging to a Saudi company, was targeted while sailing in the Red Sea today \u2026 resulting in minor damage to the vessel\u2019s hull\u201d.
\nThe ship resumed its course, the SPA added.
\nRed Sea access has become vital for Saudi Arabia to keep shipping oil as traffic in Hormuz is disrupted.<\/p>\n
\u2018Tipping point\u2019
\nThe escalation came after Trump said he would hold off on a major operation as Tehran was now getting \u201cserious\u201d in talks with Washington.
\n\u201cNo I haven\u2019t,\u201d Trump told journalists in the Oval Office when asked if he had made a decision on hitting Iran hard, for now dialing back reports that he was increasingly frustrated with the war and mulling a large-scale military operation.
\n\u201cLook, we\u2019re talking to them right now. I think they\u2019re getting more and more serious as the days go by, for maybe the obvious reason.\u201d
\nTrump said Iran had a choice between making a deal or facing a \u201cmuch higher level\u201d of strikes, after nearly two weeks of US attacks that have left a ceasefire in tatters.
\nThe war that Trump once predicted would last four or five weeks is now nearing its fifth month, and is weighing on the Republican\u2019s approval ratings ahead of crucial US midterm elections in November.
\nTrump added that he did not know what the \u201ctipping point\u201d would be for a decision, but reiterated that his red line would be if Iran was close to developing a nuclear weapon.
\nThe United States says it is carrying out the strikes to stop Iran closing the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Iran has responded with strikes on US bases that have killed four service members.
\nThe Iranian military said on Friday it had carried out attacks targeting US military assets in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait.
\nIran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards, meanwhile, said they had targeted an Amazon data center in Bahrain, according to state media, though neither the US tech giant nor Bahrain has commented on the claim.
\nThere was also no confirmation from the United States of any targeting of its facilities or personnel. In Bahrain, sirens sounded again early on Saturday, the interior ministry said, urging residents to take shelter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Taiz Houthi rebels claimed a missile strike on Saudi Arabia on Saturday, hours after vowing to retaliate against the kingdom for attacks as the Middle East conflict expanded. Riyadh struck Houthi military targets in Hodeida on Friday, with rebel media reporting two wounded after the Yemeni group announced a maritime blockade of the top oil […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-558392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n