Yemen’s Houthi movement has claimed credit for attacking facilities of the Saudi Arabian oil company Saudi Aramco with drones carrying explosives. The attacks led Aramco to halt pumping through a key pipeline until damage could be assessed, but the company has stated that damage was minor and production and exports had not been affected by the attack. The attacks follow a series of attacks on commercial tankers in the UAE which remain unattributed.
Both these attacks and the earlier tanker attacks are taking place in the context of increasing tensions between the US and Iran. Iran supports the Houthi movement and the US recently moved an aircraft carrier group closer toward the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global oil supply transits.
