TAIZ, Yemen/DUBAI, Sept. 14 (Reuters) - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis launched a new attack on Saudi Arabia on Monday and Gulf Arab states postponed planned talks with Iran, raising concerns the Middle East conflict could spread further and threaten global oil supplies.
The Houthis on Monday said they fired dozens of missiles and drones at a military airbase in Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia, targeting aircraft hangars, radar systems, runways and ammunition depots in retaliation for Saudi airstrikes in Yemen.
Saudi authorities issued emergency alerts there and in three other southern cities.
The action followed an attack on Saudi Arabia on Friday, which Riyadh blamed on Iran-backed fighters in Iraq. That knocked out the country's east-west pipeline, which allows Gulf oil exports to bypass the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
Further pressuring global oil supplies, the Houthis have advanced rapidly in Yemen in recent days, capturing territory including Perim Island at the mouth of the Red Sea on Friday.
The renewed Yemen conflict poses another challenge for U.S. President Donald Trump, who faces pressure from Gulf allies to help contain the Houthis but has sought to avoid opening a major new front.
Saudi Arabia has led a coalition battling the Houthis since 2015, but the conflict had largely quietened under a ceasefire in recent years. Fighting reignited this month, with the Houthis pushing back forces aligned with the internationally recognised government.
Three sources have told Reuters that Washington has so far resisted Saudi requests for direct military intervention beyond intelligence support. Trump said over the weekend he had spoken with the crown prince and that the Houthis had also contacted Washington urging it to stay out of the conflict.
Saudi state media reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met U.S. regional commander Admiral Brad Cooper in Jeddah on Monday.
The International Organization for Migration estimates 82,000 Yemenis have fled fighting since the start of the month as the Houthis swept into cities, including the historic Red Sea port of Mocha in Yemen last week.
Aisha Muhammad, an elderly woman burning twigs to heat a kettle in government-held territory near Taiz in southwestern Yemen, told Reuters she had left behind two daughters and three sons who had been unable to escape.
"They can't even go out to the market to get food and drinking water. They are being blocked and shot at, so they are trapped inside their homes," she said. "They cannot reach us, and we cannot return to them. This is a trial from God."
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