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CAIRO — <\/span>Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthi rebels<\/a> said Saturday that they fired missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia in response to Saudi airstrikes on the strategic Red Sea city of Hodeida, in an escalation over vital shipping routes in the Middle East while the United States and Iran<\/a> vie for control of the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>.<\/p>\n Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the Houthis\u2019 military spokesperson, said in a prerecorded statement that the attack targeted facilities in the Red Sea cities of Yanbu and Jizan that belong to Aramco, the world\u2019s largest oil company.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia’s civil defense said alerts sounded multiple times early Saturday in both cities, but the kingdom didn’t comment further.<\/p>\n There were no reported strikes overnight in Iran, in an apparent break from nearly two weeks of consecutive nights of U.S. attacks<\/a>, though tension remains high following an escalation over the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n The Houthis have said they would close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Saudi-linked shipping in retaliation<\/a> for the kingdom\u2019s blockade on Yemen and a recent attack<\/a> on the international airport in Yemen\u2019s rebel-held capital, Sanaa.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing short of ending the aggression and lifting the blockade, otherwise, it\u2019s all illusion and mirage,” Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthi-led Supreme Political Council governing rebel-controlled territories in Yemen, said of what it would take for the Houthis to not blockade the Bab-El-Mandeb.<\/p>\n The Bab el-Mandeb, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is a vital shipping chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Around 12% of the world\u2019s trade, including a quarter of its container traffic, passes through the narrows.<\/p>\n The Houthis targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea this week. In response, Saudi Arabia struck Hodeida, the Saudi-led coalition opposing the rebels said Saturday. The strikes late Friday hit the port and the state-run telecommunications corporation, injuring two people, said Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi-run health ministry.<\/p>\n The Saudi-led coalition said it didn\u2019t hit the port but struck \u201clegitimate military targets\u201d in Hodeida province that \u201cwere linked to threats to commercial vessels in the Red Sea.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, called for \u201cdiplomacy and dialogue\u201d to solve the Yemen conflict without \u201cmilitary confrontations\u201d in an interview published Saturday by the state-run newspaper called Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cIran had a peaceful night,\u201d Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesperson for Iran’s Health Ministry, posted on X.<\/p>\n U.S. Central Command didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Unlike the previous 13 nights, it didn’t announce new strikes.<\/p>\n Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to travel to the United States next week and meet with President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday, his office said Friday. They last met in Washington in February, weeks before they launched the war<\/a>.<\/p>\n A tenuous ceasefire<\/a> that halted major operations for weeks has seemed to unravel this month. The U.S. accused Iran of striking three ships<\/a> in the Strait of Hormuz and responded by striking dozens of targets in Iran, which retaliated by firing at U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states.<\/p>\n The U.S. military has renewed its blockade of Iran\u2019s ports. Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard<\/a> has advised residents of neighboring countries to stay away from bases with U.S. troops.<\/p>\n The war has killed more than 3,400 people in Iran, according to its Health Ministry. Eighteen U.S. service members, 24 civilians in Israel and smaller numbers of civilians including foreign workers and mariners have been reportedly killed across the region.<\/p>\n