The escalations follow the signing of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.
Drone Strike Hits Saudi Aramco Refinery in Jazan
Yemen’s Houthi group claimed responsibility for an attack targeting a Saudi Aramco facility in Jazan, utilizing an unmanned drone to strike the strategic energy site. Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced the operation in a statement on Telegram, asserting that the group had successfully targeted the Aramco refinery in Jazan with a drone, achieving a precise strike.
According to Saree, the operation was executed in response to what the Houthis described as the Saudi enemy’s drone incursions into the airspace of Saada and Hajjah governorates. Jazan sits in southwestern Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea close to the border with Yemen, housing an integrated refinery and petrochemical complex, making the area strategically important to the Kingdom’s energy infrastructure.
The Houthi claim comes hours after Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy said that a fire had broken out at dawn at one of the facilities belonging to the Saudi Aramco refinery in Jazan. The Energy Ministry said in a post on X earlier today that industrial security firefighting teams affiliated with Saudi Aramco extinguished a fire that broke out at dawn today, Sunday, corresponding to 26/2/1448 AH, in one of the facilities belonging to the Saudi Aramco Refinery in Jazan, with no injuries.
The latest statement also follows an earlier remark by Houthis in late July on Telegram that it had carried out ballistic missile and drone strikes against Aramco-affiliated facilities in Jazan and Yanbu.
Simultaneous Industrial Explosions in Jubail Industrial City
The attack on the Jazan facility coincided with a reported attack on a gas facility in Saudi Arabia’s Jubail region, which Israeli media attributed to the Yemeni Houthi group. According to Israel’s Channel 14, Houthis were behind the attack on the gas facility in Saudi Aramco’s gas plant in Al Jubail after reports emerged of an explosion and fire at an industrial facility in the kingdom’s eastern region.
Regional reporting corroborated the disturbance. Anadolu Agency reported that a loud blast was heard in the area, while Iranian state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), citing Arab sources, reported that gas facilities in Jubail Industrial City had been targeted and caught fire.
Jubail Industrial City, located on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast, is one of the Kingdom’s major industrial and energy hubs, with extensive petrochemical, refining and gas-related infrastructure.
Regional Tensions and the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement
The latest incidents come amid renewed Houthi activity in the Red Sea region and growing concerns over attacks against Saudi energy and transport infrastructure. The Houthis, who control large parts of northern Yemen and are aligned with Iran, had announced a naval blockade of Riyadh in the Red Sea, particularly along the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, last month, citing the Saudi blockade of Yemen – a claim that Riyadh had rejected. The rebel groups had previously targeted Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones, and Saudi Arabia has in the past accused the group of threatening its energy infrastructure and other strategic facilities.
The Houthi attack on Saudi energy facilities is the first major strike on the Kingdom, which comes days after Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement
on Friday, amid escalating tensions and conflict across West Asia. The agreement, formalised against the backdrop of mounting regional security threats, seeks to strengthen defence and military cooperation among the three countries and bolster their collective deterrence.
“The Agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression, and stipulates that any armed attack against any one of the three States shall be regarded as an attack against them all. It further provides for the enhancement of all aspects of defence cooperation among the three States,” the summit statement said.
While the pact does not specify detailed military obligations or operational commitments, it establishes a framework for enhanced defence cooperation and identifies the promotion of peace, stability and security in the region and beyond as its broader objective.
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