Houthis hit S Arabia as Trump weighs harder Iran strikes

SANAA, July 25: Tehran-backed Houthi rebels claimed a missile attack on Saudi Arabia on Saturday as US President Donald Trump mulled fresh strikes on Iran in the deepening Middle East war.

The US military broke its daily announcement of fresh strikes on the Islamic republic on Saturday, following 13 nights in a row hitting military targets there.

The Houthis had accused US ally Riyadh of a "dangerous escalation" after it struck military targets belonging to the group on Friday, following the rebels announcing a maritime blockade of the top oil producer and hitting its ships in the Red Sea.

The flare-up marks a new front in a war that has engulfed the region following US-Israeli strikes on Tehran in February, and comes on top of Iran's parallel blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Riyadh's only other maritime route.

Riyadh did not immediately comment on the Houthis' Ansarollah media post on Telegram on Saturday that a "Yemeni missile strike" had sparked fires in Jizan.

But Riyadh's civil defence agency issued brief warnings to residents in the city, as well as Yanbu, early on Saturday.

The warning came after the Saudi-led coalition said Friday it had hit Houthi sites and destroyed targets threatening commercial vessels in response to attacks on Red Sea shipping.

A Yemeni security source told AFP a naval base in the port city of Hodeida and a military camp on Kamaranisland were among the Saudi targets.�"AFP