Houthis say they attacked 2 Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea as US carries out 12th night of strikes

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CAIRO (AP) — Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said early Thursday they had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, and the U.S. military conducted a 12th night of strikes against Iran as the two countries vie for control of vital shipping lanes.

The Houthi attack threatened to open a new front in a war that has roiled the global economy, sending prices for fuel and other goods surging across the world. With the standoff in the Gulf deepening, there were no signs of progress in diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

U.S. Central Command said its strikes were designed to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters,” as the Americans push to regain control over the Strait of Hormuz and restore the flow of international shipping.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that the U.S. would destroy one bridge or power plant each time Iran shoots at a ship in the strait.

Both sides have increasingly threatened civilian infrastructure. International law generally prohibits such attacks unless the infrastructure is being used for military purposes.

“From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT,” Trump wrote on social media.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, attending a regional summit in the Philippines, said Iran wants to talk but doesn’t seem serious about wanting a deal.

“The problem with them is you can’t make a deal with people unless they’re going to keep it. And these people make deals and then they break it almost immediately or they decide, ‘oh, let’s change the deal.’ That’s not how deals work,” Rubio said. “So now they’re paying the price for it, and maybe they’ll change their mind here over the next few days as they continue to suffer great losses.”

The Houthis' SABA news agency said the rebels had struck two tankers, the Encelia and the Layla, in the Red Sea, leading to fires on both. That would be their first reported attack on a vessel since they announced a blockade of Saudi-linked shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait earlier this week in retaliation for the kingdom’s blockade on Yemen and a recent attack on the international airport in Yemen’s rebel-held capital, Sanaa.

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’s trade, including a fourth of global container traffic, passes through there, moving between Europe and Asia via Egypt’s Suez Canal.

A senior official with the Houthis said the blockade on Saudi-linked shipping would remain in effect until a years-old Saudi blockade against the Houthis is lifted. The official gave no details of the attack and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency reported the Encelia was set ablaze by an attack while sailing overnight in the Red Sea, citing an unidentified source from the General Authority of Transport. It said there were no casualties. It did not mention the Layla.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, UKMTO, said it received a report of a tanker being struck by “an unknown projectile” 70 nautical miles (80 miles, 130 kilometers) southwest of Al Shuqaiq, Saudi Arabia, in the Red Sea. It said no casualties had been reported.

Asked about the tanker attack, Rubio said he hoped the Houthis would “de-escalate.”

“I think the Houthis, frankly, got snookered into this thing by the Iranians. And they were smart to stay out of it, and they should stay out of it and they should stop. We’ll see what happens there. Obviously, it’s not a positive development,” Rubio said.

The continued American airstrikes are occurring as both sides have dug in on their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global energy that remains largely closed. The closure of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas passed during peacetime, has jolted the world economy with effects far beyond the Middle East.

Iran says it has the right to manage traffic and potentially charge fees in the strait, which was open to all and toll-free before the war. It has attacked ships using a route through the strait that is overseen by U.S. forces and intended to be outside Tehran’s control.

In response to Iran’s attacks, the U.S. re-imposed a blockade on Iranian ports and began the widening campaign of strikes across the country. On Tuesday, Trump signaled that U.S. forces could soon target an under-construction Iranian nuclear site buried deep under a mountain.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who has led negotiations with the U.S., appeared to brush off Trump’s threats.

“We have repeatedly said that the situation of the strait will not return to prewar conditions,” he wrote on social media.

Iranian state media reported that U.S. missiles struck locations overnight near the cities of Ahvaz, Ramshir and Andimeshk in western Iran, and two people were killed in a U.S. missile strike in the town of Shalamcheh on the Iraqi border.

Iran has responded to U.S. attacks by targeting energy infrastructure and desalination plants providing drinking water in parched neighboring Gulf countries.

Jordanian authorities said Thursday the country's military had intercepted three missiles Thursday morning, with a fourth falling in an empty area, while six drones were intercepted Wednesday night.

Bahrain's Interior Ministry posted on X that sirens had sounded and urged the public to remain calm and head to a safe area.

Overnight, military officials in Kuwait said on social media that their air defenses were “confronting attacks by hostile drones.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would adopt an “eye for an eye” defense doctrine.

“Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response,” he posted Wednesday on X.

Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni held meetings in recent days in Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict, seeking to revive diplomacy. But it was unclear what new arrangement might be reached to end the war, which lately has become a battle for control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the attacks on the Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, a statement from his office said.

Iran’s Interior Ministry spokesperson Ali Zeinivand said “diplomacy isn’t called off” and that messages were still being exchanged, according to IRNA.

An Arab diplomat said Gulf states are increasingly pessimistic about finding an off-ramp for escalating hostilities and are particularly concerned about the latest round of threats.

The diplomat said regional countries, in addition to Pakistan and Turkey, are continuing to push for de-escalation but that chances for improvement currently appear bleak. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

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Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press writers Collin Binkley and Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Michelle L. Price and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.