Houthis attack Saudi Arabia from Iraq in coordination with Iran-aligned Iraqi militia groups - report

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Saudi Arabia this week from Iraqi territory in coordination with Iraqi armed groups. According to an exclusive report from Reuters, which spoke to two officials in the region, this union reflects a growing coordination among Iran-aligned militias. It also indicates that members of Iran's so-called Axis of Resistance have deepened their ties despite years of US and Israeli strikes on the network.

The attacks from Iraq, which the Houthis have taken responsibility for, included strikes on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia's eastern province, the kingdom's main crude hub. Officials said the operations were coordinated under the supervision of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Saudi Arabia has not sat quietly, however. The Kingdom carried out joint airstrikes with the United States on Iraqi sites on Wednesday. Additionally, on Thursday, an explosion was reported in Sanaa, Yemen, yet details on the cause, location, and any casualties were not immediately available.

"There is now direct training and coordination between members of the Axis of Resistance themselves, not just between them and Iran," said Farea al-Muslimi, a research fellow at the Chatham House think tank's Middle East and North Africa program, according to Reuters.

Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi addressed the escalation in a speech Thursday, saying his forces had moved to impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia in what he called a "blockade-for-blockade" equation. He accused Riyadh of capping Yemen's gas wealth to keep the country in economic and political crisis, saying Saudi Arabia had set a ceiling on extraction "that absolutely prevents the people from achieving a decent standard of living."

Al-Houthi also alleged Saudi measures blocked oil extraction in Yemen's Jawf and Mahra governorates, accusing the kingdom of coveting resources in both provinces.