Iran retaliates against US allies after its oil tankers destroyed

Iran-backed Houthis struck several Saudi cities on Tuesday, wounding 73 people and setting oil sites ablaze as the Middle East war intensified in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. U.S. forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers after Iranian Revolutionary Guard missile attempts against a U.S. Navy warship, and Iran then hit a U.S. base near Al Azraq in Jordan. Jordan said it intercepted 18 of 20 missiles, with no casualties. The fighting also pushed Brent crude to its highest level since July 23.

The Houthis said they launched drones and missiles at a Saudi airbase in Khamis Mushait and Saudi Aramco assets in Abha, Najran and Jazan.

Saudi authorities said women and children were among the 73 people wounded in the attacks on southern Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. Central Command said it destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers on Tuesday in response to Iranian Revolutionary Guard missile attempts against a U.S. Navy warship.

Jordan said its air defenses intercepted 18 of the 20 Iranian missiles aimed at a U.S. base near Al Azraq, and there were no casualties.

Brent crude futures rose to their highest level since July 23 after the Jordanian attack, though prices remained below 100 dollars per barrel.

Published Sep 9, 2026 11:07 am KST

Jordanian air defenses reportedly intercept missiles launched from Iran, as seen from the Israeli side of the Jordan Valley, Sept. 9. EPA-Yonhap

DUBAI/CAIRO — The Middle East war intensified on Tuesday with Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen launching strikes on several Saudi cities, further embroiling a U.S. ally in the conflict, while U.S. forces hit multiple Iranian oil tankers and Iran targeted a U.S. base in Jordan.

The Houthis attacked four cities in the south of Saudi Arabia, wounding 73 people and setting oil installations ablaze in what appeared to be a major expansion of the six-month-old war.

As global oil markets were pricing in the Saudi attacks, the U.S. military's Central Command said it destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers on Tuesday and posted video of the strikes, which it called a response to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeting a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the previous two days. No Americans were harmed, the U.S. said.

"Iran continues to try to hit U.S. naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they're going to lose tankers," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia.

Iran then retaliated with a ballistic missile attack on a U.S. base near Al Azraq in Jordan, according to an IRGC statement carried on state media. Iranian state media published video of what it said were Iranian missiles launched at Jordan.

Although Iran said its missiles inflicted heavy damage, Jordan said its air defences intercepted 18 of the 20 Iranian missiles, with two falling in unpopulated areas, and that there were no casualties.

Iran has targeted U.S. allies in the region throughout the war, including Jordan several times, killing two U.S. military personnel during one strike in July.

A separate IRGC statement said it also attacked two U.S. destroyers, state media reported. The U.S. military had yet to respond to the reports.

Iran also threatened to target oil tankers in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports, according to a statement carried by state media. A maritime security source reported a liquefied natural gas tanker was damaged in the Emirati port of Khor Fakkan, though it was unclear who was responsible.

After a month of calm in August, Iran and the U.S. resumed exchanging fire in recent days, driving the price of benchmark Brent crude oil to its highest level since July 23. Brent crude futures jumped another dollar per barrel after the Jordanian attack, but prices remained below $100 per barrel, despite the disruptions.

The war has been marked by a cycle of pauses followed by periodic flare-ups, with Iran still able to launch missile and drone strikes on its neighbours and threaten oil shipping in the Strait of Hormuz despite U.S. attacks that have degraded much of its conventional forces and extracted a toll on its already ailing economy.

The Houthis, who control most of Yemen's populated areas including the capital, have further pressured U.S. allies by periodically disrupting shipping on the other side of the Arabian peninsula, at the entrance to the Red Sea.

On Tuesday the Houthis said they had launched a broad operation deep into Saudi territory, using drones and missiles to strike a Saudi airbase in the southern city of Khamis Mushait as well as Saudi state oil company assets in the cities of Abha, Najran and Jazan.

NASA satellite images showed a thick cloud of black smoke over the Jazan refinery and a column of white smoke rising from an oil distribution centre in Abha.

Saudi authorities described blazes at the sites and said women and children were among the 73 people hurt. The reports of such large numbers of wounded suggested the attacks were among the biggest carried out against Saudi Arabia since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran in February.

This handout image release by the Iran-backed Houthi forces on Sept. 7 purportedly show a ballistic missile strike on trucks carrying military equipment from Saudi Arabia to the Al-Wadiah military camp in Yemen's Hadhramaut province. UPI-Yonhap

Houthi attacks on southwestern Saudi Arabia have the potential to worsen the war's global economic impact by disrupting Middle East energy supplies beyond the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition battling against the Houthis in Yemen for more than a decade, after the Houthis drove the Yemeni government from the capital. That war had calmed in recent years, but a ceasefire there has broken down.

The wider war in the Gulf has turned into a test of wills between the U.S. and Iran, with each side hoping that economic pressure from competing blockades will force the other to yield.

Washington is trying to increase the flow of oil to world markets by guiding ships through the Strait of Hormuz, while cutting off Iran's exports with a blockade.

Central Command said the tankers it destroyed on Tuesday were part of a shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies. Iran has long supported what it calls an "Axis of Resistance", which includes the Hamas militia, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Iraqi Shi'ite militias and the Houthis.

周二，伊朗支持的胡塞武装袭击了沙特阿拉伯多个城市，造成73人受伤，并引发石油设施火灾。与此同时，中东战事在也门、沙特阿拉伯和约旦愈演愈烈。此前，伊朗革命卫队曾试图用导弹袭击一艘美国海军军舰，美军随后摧毁了五艘伊朗原油运输船。伊朗随后袭击了位于约旦阿兹拉克附近的一处美军基地。约旦方面称拦截了20枚导弹中的18枚，无人员伤亡。此次冲突也推高了布伦特原油价格，使其升至7月23日以来的最高水平。

胡塞武装称，他们向位于哈米斯穆沙伊特的沙特空军基地以及位于艾卜哈、纳季兰和吉赞的沙特阿美资产发射了无人机和导弹。

沙特当局称，在沙特南部发生的袭击事件中，73名伤者中有妇女和儿童。

美国中央司令部周二表示，为回应伊朗革命卫队向美国海军军舰发射导弹的企图，摧毁了五艘伊朗原油运输船。

约旦方面表示，其防空部队拦截了伊朗向阿兹拉克附近美国基地发射的20枚导弹中的18枚，没有造成人员伤亡。

约旦袭击事件发生后，布伦特原油期货价格升至 7 月 23 日以来的最高水平，但价格仍低于每桶 100 美元。

发布于2026年9月9日上午11:07（韩国标准时间）

据报道，约旦防空系统拦截了从伊朗发射的导弹，图为9月9日从约旦河谷以色列一侧拍摄的画面。（图片来源：EPA-Yonhap）

迪拜/开罗——周二，中东战争愈演愈烈，伊朗支持的也门胡塞武装袭击了沙特阿拉伯的多个城市，使美国的盟友进一步卷入冲突；与此同时，美军袭击了多艘伊朗油轮，伊朗则袭击了美国在约旦的一个基地。

胡塞武装袭击了沙特阿拉伯南部的四座城市，造成 73 人受伤，并放火焚烧了石油设施，这似乎是这场持续六个月的战争的重大扩张。

在全球石油市场消化沙特袭击事件之际，美国中央司令部周二宣布摧毁了五艘伊朗原油运输船，并发布了袭击视频。美方称，此次袭击是对伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队此前两天两次用弹道导弹袭击美国海军军舰的回应。美国方面表示，没有美国人伤亡。

“伊朗不断试图袭击美国海军舰艇，他们每次这样做或试图这样做，都会损失油轮，”美国国务卿马可·卢比奥在访问哥伦比亚期间告诉记者。

据伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队通过国家媒体发表的声明，伊朗随后以弹道导弹袭击了位于约旦阿兹拉克附近的一个美军基地进行报复。伊朗国家媒体还发布了据称是伊朗向约旦发射导弹的视频。

尽管伊朗声称其导弹造成了严重破坏，但约旦表示，其防空部队拦截了20枚伊朗导弹中的18枚，其中两枚落在无人居住的地区，并且没有造成人员伤亡。

在整个战争期间，伊朗多次袭击美国在该地区的盟友，包括约旦，并在7月份的一次袭击中造成两名美国军人死亡。

据伊朗国家媒体报道，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队在另一份声明中称，他们还袭击了两艘美国驱逐舰。美国军方尚未对此事作出回应。

据伊朗国家媒体报道，伊朗还威胁要袭击停泊在科威特和巴林港口的油轮。一位海事安全消息人士称，一艘液化天然气运输船在阿联酋霍尔费坎港遭到破坏，但目前尚不清楚肇事者是谁。

8月份局势平静一个月后，伊朗和美国近日再次交火，导致基准布伦特原油价格升至7月23日以来的最高水平。约旦袭击事件发生后，布伦特原油期货价格每桶又上涨了1美元，但尽管受到干扰，价格仍低于每桶100美元。

这场战争的特点是时而停歇，时而爆发，尽管美国的袭击削弱了伊朗的大部分常规部队，并对其本已疲弱的经济造成了沉重打击，但伊朗仍然能够对其邻国发动导弹和无人机袭击，并威胁霍尔木兹海峡的石油运输。

控制着也门大部分人口稠密地区（包括首都）的胡塞武装，通过不时扰乱阿拉伯半岛另一侧红海入口处的航运，进一步向美国盟友施压。

周二，胡塞武装表示，他们已在沙特境内发动了一场大规模行动，使用无人机和导弹袭击了位于沙特南部城市哈米斯穆沙伊特的沙特空军基地，以及位于艾卜哈、纳季兰和吉赞等城市的沙特国家石油公司资产。

美国宇航局的卫星图像显示，吉赞炼油厂上空弥漫着浓厚的黑烟，艾卜哈的一个石油配送中心升起一股白烟柱。

沙特当局描述了事发地点的火灾情况，并表示73名伤者中有妇女和儿童。如此大规模的伤亡表明，此次袭击是自美国和以色列2月份对伊朗发动战争以来，沙特阿拉伯遭受的最大规模袭击之一。

这张由伊朗支持的胡塞武装于9月7日发布的图片据称显示，一枚弹道导弹袭击了从沙特阿拉伯运往也门哈德拉毛省瓦迪亚军事营地的卡车，这些卡车当时正运送军事装备。图片来源：UPI-Yonhap

胡塞武装对沙特阿拉伯西南部的袭击有可能通过扰乱被封锁的霍尔木兹海峡以外的中东能源供应，加剧战争对全球经济的影响。

十多年来，沙特阿拉伯领导的阿拉伯联军一直在也门与胡塞武装作战。此前，胡塞武装将也门政府赶出了首都。近年来，这场战争有所缓和，但停火协议已经破裂。

海湾地区的战争已经演变成美国和伊朗之间的意志较量，双方都希望通过相互封锁造成的经济压力迫使对方让步。

华盛顿试图通过引导船只通过霍尔木兹海峡来增加石油流入世界市场，同时通过封锁切断伊朗的石油出口。

伊朗中央司令部称，周二被摧毁的油轮隶属于一个为伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队及其地区代理人提供资金的秘密网络。伊朗长期以来支持其所谓的“抵抗轴心”，该轴心包括哈马斯民兵、黎巴嫩真主党、伊拉克什叶派民兵和胡塞武装。