Saudi Arabia works the phones with Washington and Europe as the Houthi fight continues at home

Saudi Arabia is tackling the war along two tracks. On the ground, drones and missiles are hitting its south and its oil infrastructure while the coalition shoots them down; on the diplomatic side, Riyadh is leaning on Washington to hold off on Iran, pressing Europe to blacklist the Houthis, and lining up regional troops.

Riyadh is lobbying Washington to hold its fire on Iran. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pressed US President Donald Trump to hold off on new strikes in calls over the past two weeks, arguing that sanctions on Tehran are already doing the work, Reuters reported. Trump has since told advisers he may refrain from fresh attacks absent new provocations from Iran or the Houthis, three people familiar with the matter said, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pressed the same case.

Trump has made no commitment either way, and the US military is positioned to escalate, with a third aircraft carrier moving into the region. “I could end it immediately, but at the request of the nations that I am looking to protect, we are doing it a little bit longer way, a bit more civilly,” he told US broadcaster Stephen A. Smith on Thursday. Israeli officials, meanwhile, are pushing for renewed strikes.

The stakes are showing in the Gulf’s shipping lanes. Two oil tankers caught fire in the eastern Strait of Hormuz on Saturday after striking a naval mine, Iran’s navy said in a Tasnim statement. It did not identify the vessels, their flags, or the damage, and there was no independent confirmation, per Anadolu.

Riyadh is also squeezing the Houthis diplomatically. Saudi Arabia is pressing the EU to designate the group a terrorist organization but has not overcome European concerns that a listing could undermine a future Yemen peace process, Reuters reports, citing six European officials. The step needs unanimity among the 27 member states, and only a few back it so far. The Houthis already face EU sanctions and a symbolic European Parliament resolution from last month, and a listing would carry limited practical effect while risking Houthi retaliation against European vessels, RUSI’s Joana de Deus Pereira told Reuters. France has called for more pressure on the group but stopped short of endorsing a listing.

Regional military backing, meanwhile, is still being scoped out. Syria is weighing whether to send thousands of troops to Saudi Arabia and Yemen, with reconnaissance teams already scouting positions, three Syrian military and Yemeni officials told The New York Times; any deployment would likely fall under the Makkah Pact it is considering joining — which Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan signed in August — and would aim to guard Saudi borders from Houthi ground incursions. No decision has been made, and Syria’s foreign minister said its troops are not in Yemen and there are no imminent plans to send them.

Others have already committed. Egypt last week confirmed its troops are already on Saudi soil, the UK is deploying fighter jets to defend Saudi cities and infrastructure, and France has offered radar systems to protect Yanbu. Washington is also supplying intelligence and refueling, though Trump has rebuffed Saudi appeals to strike the Houthis directly.

A fresh wave of strikes

On the energy front, the Houthis said they hit pumping station seven on the East-West Pipeline twice, attacked an Aramco facility in Riyadh, targeted pumping station three east of Riyadh, and struck the Yanbu oil facility with a missile. They also claimed drone strikes on a military cargo plane at Sharurah Airport and on King Khalid International Airport, and a missile hit on Khamis Mushait Air Base.

On the ground, the group claimed six ballistic missiles hit troop concentrations at Kharaz camp and other sites in southern Yemen’s Ras Al Ara, Kharaz, and Lahj, causing dozens of casualties. Further missiles targeted forces in Khawr Amira, Jizan, and Al Jawf Governorate, while ballistic missiles and drones set weapons depots ablaze at Ras Abbas camp in Aden Governorate. In the air, the Houthis claimed to have shot down a Saudi military CH-4 armed reconnaissance drone over Al Jawf.

The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed three drones in the Eastern Region and two in the Riyadh area. Saudi Civil Defense said separately that debris from two ballistic missiles launched toward the Makkah region fell on Sabouha village, among other places. The Houthis also claimed the Saudi air force carried out 72 airstrikes on civilian sites in Saada, Taiz, Lahj, and Al Jawf, putting the total since the escalation began at over 5k.