US commits to Saudi defence after Houthi attacks on oil heartland | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Thursday
June 19, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 2025
US commits to Saudi defence after Houthi attacks on oil heartland

World+Biz

Reuters
08 March, 2021, 08:15 pm
Last modified: 08 March, 2021, 08:19 pm

Related News

  • Hundreds rally in New York to protest US role in escalating Iran-Israel conflict
  • Iran, Israel trade fresh air attacks as Trump weighs US involvement
  • Overseas employment back in flow as Saudi recruitment picks up in May
  • Bangladesh gains bigger share in US apparel market as China loses ground, sees 29% export growth in Jan-Apr
  • Airbus bags Saudi order as Franco-Israeli dispute rocks air show

US commits to Saudi defence after Houthi attacks on oil heartland

“The heinous Houthi assaults on civilians and vital infrastructure demonstrate lack of respect for human life and disregard for peace efforts,” the US embassy in the kingdom said in an Arabic-language Twitter post

Reuters
08 March, 2021, 08:15 pm
Last modified: 08 March, 2021, 08:19 pm
Houthi fighters ride on the back of a patrol truck as they secure the site of a pro-Houthi tribal gathering in a rural area near Sanaa, Yemen July 21, 2016/ Reuters
Houthi fighters ride on the back of a patrol truck as they secure the site of a pro-Houthi tribal gathering in a rural area near Sanaa, Yemen July 21, 2016/ Reuters

The United States said on Monday it is committed to defending Saudi Arabia following drone and missile strikes claimed by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement, including on a Saudi facility vital to oil exports.

Saudi authorities said there were no casualties or property losses from Sunday's attacks targeting an oil storage yard at Ras Tanura, site of a refinery and the world's biggest offshore oil loading facility, and a residential compound in Dhahran used by state-controlled oil giant Saudi Aramco.

The attacks, which drove Brent crude prices above $70 a barrel to their highest since January 2020, come at a time of friction in the decades-old alliance between Saudi Arabia and the United States as President Joe Biden puts pressure on Riyadh over its human rights record and the ruinous Yemen war.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

"The heinous Houthi assaults on civilians and vital infrastructure demonstrate lack of respect for human life and disregard for peace efforts," the US embassy in the kingdom said in an Arabic-language Twitter post.

"The United States stands by Saudi Arabia and its people. Our commitment to defend the Kingdom and its security is firm."

The Houthis have been battling a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen for six years in a conflict largely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Saudi Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki, who also speaks for the coalition, said on Al Arabiya TV channel that Iran was smuggling missiles and drones to the Houthis. The group and Tehran have in the past rejected such charges. [D5N2JU016]

Riyadh has repeatedly said that Iran's ballistic missile programme and support for regional proxies including in Yemen should be part of any talks aimed at reviving a nuclear pact with Iran that Biden's predecessor Donald Trump quit.

The Houthi movement said its operation on Sunday using 14 drones and eight ballistic missiles also attacked military targets in the Saudi cities of Dammam, Asir and Jazan.

The coalition said it destroyed 12 Houthi drones, without specifying locations in the kingdom, and two ballistic missiles launched towards Jazan.

INTERCEPTED

The Saudi defence ministry later said it had intercepted an armed drone coming from the sea before it could hit its target at Ras Tanura. Shrapnel from a ballistic missile fell near the residential compound used by Aramco.

The two sites in the Eastern Province are located on the Gulf coast across from Iran and near Iraq and Bahrain, regional base of the US Navy. Yemen lies nearly 1,000 km (600 miles) southwest on the Gulf of Aden.

Eastern Province has most of Aramco's production and export facilities. In 2019, Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, was shaken by a big attack on oil installations just a few km (miles) from the facilities targeted on Sunday, which Riyadh blamed on Iran, a charge Tehran denies.

The 2019 attack, which was claimed by the Houthis but which Riyadh said did not originate from Yemen, forced Saudi Arabia to temporarily shut more than half of its crude output.

The United States later sent American troops and military equipment to bolster the kingdom's air and missile defences.

The Houthis have stepped up attacks as the United States and United Nations are pushing for a truce to revive stalled peace talks. Biden has declared a halt to US support for offensive operations in Yemen but said Washington would continue to help Saudi Arabia defend itself.

On Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition said the Houthis were emboldened after the Biden administration revoked terrorist designations on the group imposed by Trump.

Last week, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two Houthi military leaders in the first punitive measures against the group by Biden's administration following the spike in attacks on Saudi cities and battles in Yemen's Marib region.

The Yemen war has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed millions to the brink of famine. The Houthis, who have controlled the capital since 2014, say they are fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.

Houthi attack / Saudi Arabia / USA

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • A drone photo shows the damage over residential homes at the impact site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Moshe Mizrahi/File Photo
    Israel says hospital struck by Iranian missiles as Trump weighs US involvement
  • The image captured protesters of the student-led uprising storming Ganabhaban holding Bangladesh's national flag after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country. Photo: KM Asad-AFP/Getty Images
    Govt declares 5 August as Student-People Uprising Day
  • Election posters covered Dhaka streets. Photo taken at Adabor Road. Photo: Rajib Dhar
    EC bans posters in national election campaigns

MOST VIEWED

  • Logo of Beximco Group. Photo: Collected
    Beximco defaults on €33m in Germany, Deshbandhu owes Czech bank €4m
  • The India-Bangladesh integrated checkpost in Fulbari. Photo: Passang Yolmo via Telegraph India
    Import of boulders from Bhutan to Bangladesh stopped by Indian transporters in Fulbari
  • Infograph: TBS
    End of a loophole: Defaulters on foreign loans barred from local bank borrowing
  • Smoke rises following an Israeli attack on the IRIB building, the country's state broadcaster, in Tehran, Iran, June 16, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
    Israel-Iran War: Russia says Israel's attacks illegal, UAE warns of 'uncalculated, reckless steps'
  • An anti-missile system operates as missiles are launched from Iran, as seen from Tel Aviv, Israel, 18 June 2025. Photo: Reuters
    Khamenei rejects Trump's demand for surrender, Trump says 'good luck'
  • Soldiers salute Arakan Army chief Major General Twan Mrat Naing during a parade in Myanmar, 6 April 2018. File Photo: Arakan Army deputy chief Brig Gen Nyo Twan Awng/Twitter
    Rohingya militant groups recruit from camps to fight Arakan Army, warns Crisis Group

Related News

  • Hundreds rally in New York to protest US role in escalating Iran-Israel conflict
  • Iran, Israel trade fresh air attacks as Trump weighs US involvement
  • Overseas employment back in flow as Saudi recruitment picks up in May
  • Bangladesh gains bigger share in US apparel market as China loses ground, sees 29% export growth in Jan-Apr
  • Airbus bags Saudi order as Franco-Israeli dispute rocks air show

Features

Evacuation of Bangladeshis: Where do they go next from conflict-ridden Iran?

Evacuation of Bangladeshis: Where do they go next from conflict-ridden Iran?

18h | Panorama
The Kallyanpur Canal is burdened with more than 600,000 kilograms of waste every month. Photo: Courtesy

Kallyanpur canal project shows how to combat plastic pollution in Dhaka

1d | Panorama
The GLS600 overall has a curvaceous nature, with seamless blends across every panel. PHOTO: Arfin Kazi

Mercedes Maybach GLS600: Definitive Luxury

3d | Wheels
Renowned authors Imdadul Haque Milon, Mohit Kamal, and poet–children’s writer Rashed Rouf seen at Current Book Centre, alongside the store's proprietor, Shahin. Photo: Collected

From ‘Screen and Culture’ to ‘Current Book House’: Chattogram’s oldest surviving bookstore

3d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Pvt sector's foreign loan rises by $454m on stable exchange rate, reserve in three months

Pvt sector's foreign loan rises by $454m on stable exchange rate, reserve in three months

38m | TBS Insight
Is Israel’s air defense system running out?

Is Israel’s air defense system running out?

1h | Others
Iran's Missile Range: How Far Can Tehran's Weapons Strike?

Iran's Missile Range: How Far Can Tehran's Weapons Strike?

2h | Others
Will the US be able to overthrow the Iranian government? What does history say?

Will the US be able to overthrow the Iranian government? What does history say?

3h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net