Iran-backed Houthis target Saudi oil facility as hostilities escalate in Yemen

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis say they targeted a Saudi Arabian oil company in retaliation for Saudi attacks on Yemen.

The fighting has worsened the already appalling humanitarian conditions in Yemen.

Iraq's state-owned Oil Tanker Company says it has transported 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude aboard a large crude carrier through the Strait of Hormuz.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis say a targeted attack on a Saudi Arabian oil company facility near the capital Riyadh is retaliation for Saudi attacks on Yemen. 

The foes have traded strikes since the Houthis seized all of Yemen's Red Sea coast and took control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait in a lightning offensive last month.

Houthi-affiliated channel Al-Masirah TV reported that Saudi aircraft hit Sanaa with 26 strikes, after earlier reporting "Saudi aggression" against the Yemeni capital.

Houthis say they targeted a Saudi oil facility, south of Riyadh. (AP)

Two correspondents in Sanaa reported hearing loud explosions and seeing warplanes firing missiles at the city.

In Saudi Arabia, flames and smoke were seen rising on Saturday afternoon from an Aramco facility south of Riyadh.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had targeted an oil facility in Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones.

They said the attack sparked fires at the targeted sites.

Al-Masirah also reported missile strikes on the telecommunications network in Yemen's north-western governorate of Saada, one of the group's strongholds.

After several years of calm, Yemen was plunged back into civil war in July, pitting the Iran-backed Houthis, who control most of north-west Yemen, including Sanaa, against Yemen's internationally recognised government.

The government, based in the city of Aden, controls much of the country's south and east, a region that is larger but much less populated.

Hostilities were reignited after four years of a fragile truce when Iran sent a plane to Sanaa carrying a Houthi delegation.

The flight did not seek authorisation from Saudi Arabia, contravening a decade-old practice.

Riyadh retaliated with strikes on Sanaa airport, and in response the Houthis attacked Saudi territory for the first time since 2022.

Since then, fighting has intensified, with the Houthis launching a lightning offensive in which they seized control of coastal regions along the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Houthi fighters took over the Red Sea port of Sanaa in Yemen. (AP)

They have also struck multiple Saudi targets, including oil infrastructure and Riyadh, while also announcing a naval blockade on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea.

The renewed fighting has worsened the already appalling humanitarian conditions in Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries, with the World Food Programme warning on Friday that three-quarters of the population was unable to meet its basic food needs.

Fighting in recent days has centred on Taiz, where dozens of combatants were reported killed on Friday by sources on both sides.

The Houthis reported 55 of their fighters had been killed, while government sources said 26 troops had died.

The Houthis said on Friday Saudi Arabia had launched 94 strikes against areas under their control in the previous 24 hours.

Saudi authorities reported a Houthi projectile had damaged a school in the city of Najran near the Yemeni border.

Riyadh has reportedly requested help from the United States, a call so far rebuffed by US President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, Iraq's state-owned Oil Tanker Company transported 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude aboard a large crude carrier through the Strait of Hormuz, in what its director general described on Saturday as the company's first such operation in decades.

The announcement means the company is transporting the crude through the strait rather than delivering it at the port of Basra, giving state oil marketer SOMO greater flexibility in how and where it sells the crude.

The company's director general, Ali Qais Abdul Jabbar, said in a statement that the Oil Tanker Company was working to buy specialised crude oil tankers to expand its fleet.

Iraq has previously secured Iranian permission for Iraqi oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed during its conflict with the US.