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See the full story · 3 sourcesThere has been a temporary halt in US strikes, but the Iran war still escalated over the weekend
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The Iran conflict has expanded significantly, despite a temporary halt in US military strikes.
Yemen's Houthi rebels , aligned with Iran, launched attacks on Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast , while Tehran accused Ukraine of targeting one of its vessels in the Caspian Sea.
The US military confirmed its naval blockade against Iran "remains in full effect" on Saturday, though it offered no explanation for the cessation of 13 consecutive nights of escalating strikes. There were no reports of retaliatory attacks by Iran on its neighbours over the weekend, a departure from its usual daily responses to US actions.
Addressing the pause, a senior official in President Trump's administration stated that Trump "has always been clear that his preference is diplomacy, but he has shown Iran what will happen if they fail to come to the table in a serious way."
President Trump has reportedly opted, for the time being, against intensifying attacks on Iran, according to the New York Times, which cited two individuals briefed on the discussions. The newspaper indicated that the president and his advisers harbour concerns about broadening the conflict, depleting defence stockpiles, alienating Middle East Gulf allies, and impacting global energy supplies and the economy.
Vice President JD Vance and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, both raised concerns regarding the US munitions stockpile with President Trump during a White House meeting on Friday, a US official informed CNN. A Department of Defense source told the broadcaster on Saturday that operations are "on a hold."
Despite the lull in the Gulf, Saturday's clashes between Iran's Houthi allies and Saudi Arabia underscored how the war, which has already disrupted energy supplies via the Strait of Hormuz, could now affect a second crucial shipping route and potentially reignite Yemen's civil war.
Separately, Iran's Foreign Ministry accused Ukraine of attacking an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, claiming one sailor was killed and another injured. The ministry summoned Ukraine's chargé d'affaires in Tehran to protest what it described as a "hostile and criminal" attack, according to state news agency IRNA.
This Iranian denunciation coincided with comments from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who stated that Kyiv had noted Russia was providing Iran with satellite observations in the Middle East to facilitate strikes in the region.
The conflict now threatens to engulf Yemen more deeply. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for striking sites belonging to Saudi state oil company Aramco in the cities of Jizan and Yanbu on Saturday.
Video verified by Reuters showed a large column of smoke rising from the direction of the Aramco refinery in Jizan, near the Yemeni border, which can process up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily. Two Asia-based trading sources reported potential damage to fuel and oil storage sites at Jizan. Aramco did not respond to requests for comment.
In Yanbu, Saudi Arabia's primary Red Sea oil port and a key route for Saudi oil bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, two missiles aimed at oil installations were intercepted.
In Yemen, officials reported that the air force of the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government, which has opposed the Houthis for over a decade, struck Houthi sites in the Marib and al-Jawf provinces. Officials indicated that both sides in Yemen's civil war were mobilising forces along the front lines.
Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition battling the Houthis since the Iran-aligned fighters seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa. The civil war, which has seen hundreds of thousands die from famine and fighting, had been under a ceasefire since 2022.
However, that truce collapsed this month, with the Houthis effectively joining the broader conflict their Iranian allies have been waging since being attacked by the United States and Israel five months ago. The Houthis have declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia over the past week, and Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi warned that all Saudi oil facilities could become targets.
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