Iran-US war latest: Crucial Saudi oil pipeline ‘on fire’ as Houthis capture island near key shipping route

Satellite imagery showed smoke in the area of a crucial oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia, raising fears of another heavy attack by the Houthis on energy infrastructure.

Images verified by Reuters showed smoke in the vicinity of the East-West oil pipeline, as the Houthis captured a strategic island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The waterway in the Red Sea is key to global oil shipping.

Earlier, two sources from the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised Yemeni government said its forces had withdrawn from Perim and that the Houthis had also taken the mainland Red Sea coastal town of Dhubab, which faces the island.

The developments threaten to bring further chaos for energy exports. The price of oil touched $108 a barrel on Friday for the first time since May after the Houthis captured Yemen’s strategic port city of Mokha.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has relied on the Red Sea route since the Iran conflict ⁠effectively closed Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil used to flow.

Mokha is around 50 miles from Bab el-Mandeb, a geopolitical chokepoint connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and through which about 12 per cent of the world’s goods are typically shipped.

The East-West pipeline was hit on Thursday morning in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh and Medina regions, the Saudi energy ministry said.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strikes. Satellite images showed black smoke rising from an area of the pipeline south of Medina.

The attack resulted in some injuries and damage that was being assessed, the Saudi foreign ministry said without detailing the impact on exports. The cashiered Iraqi military commander had led ‌operations in Maysan province, according to Saturday's statement by the Iraqi prime minister's office.

Maysan province, which borders Iran in southeastern Iraq, has long been regarded as an area where Iran-backed Shi'ite militias operate and maintain influence.

The Saudi energy ministry said it had shut the pipeline as a precaution.

The line has been moving 4 million to 5 million barrels per day in recent months, amounting to four per cent to five per cent of global supply, according to ship tracking companies and analysts.

The attack comes as Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen tightened their grip in the ⁠Red Sea, which combined with the Strait of Hormuz disruptions has put an energy squeeze on both sides ​of ⁠the Arabian Peninsula and sent global oil prices back above $100 per barrel.

Four Yemeni government sources told Reuters that Houthis had seized the strategic island of Perim on Friday at the mouth of the Red Sea, in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The dual attacks reported on Friday - on the pipeline and Perim island - could represent a dangerous ⁠escalation while diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled.