Saudi Arabia’s Precarious Balancing Act Between Washington and Tehran

In response, Saudi Arabia maximized its oil throughput, pumping approximately five million barrels per day via its east-west pipeline to the Yanbu export terminal on the Red Sea. From there, the crude was loaded onto tankers heading south through the Arabian Sea to Asian markets, a route that initially appeared to work smoothly.

That relative calm ended on 13 July, when Saudi forces struck Sanaa airport on the outskirts of Yemen’s capital. The attack, claimed by Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, was intended to block an Iranian aircraft from landing. In retaliation, Houthi forces targeted Saudi airports at Abha and Jizan.

Compounding Riyadh’s concerns, the Houthis have since escalated to attacking Saudi shipping in the Red Sea, making navigation through the narrow Bab el-Mandeb strait at the sea’s southern end extremely hazardous. This directly threatens the flow of Saudi oil exports to Asia.

Saudi Arabia spent seven years attempting to bomb the Houthis into submission without success. The devastating war that engulfed Yemen created one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history, and its consequences persist.

Having signed an uneasy truce with the Houthis in 2022—amid reports of financial settlements—the kingdom now confronts renewed drone and missile threats from its southern neighbor, even as attacks from Iraq escalate in the north.

None of this aligns with the ambitions outlined in Vision 2030.

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