The U.S. military said on Saturday that its naval blockade against Iran “remains in full effect” but did not explain why it halted a streak of 13 nights of escalating strikes. Asked about the pause, a senior official in President Donald Trump’s administration said Trump “has always been clear that his preference is diplomacy, but he has shown Iran what will happen if they fail to come to the table in a serious way.”
There were also no reports on Saturday of attacks from Iran on neighboring countries, like those that have been taking place daily in response to the U.S. attacks.
Trump has decided, for now, to back away from earlier plans to ramp up attacks on Iran, the New York Times reported on Saturday night, citing two people briefed on the discussion. The president and his advisers, according to the Times, have concerns about expanding the conflict, depleting defense stockpiles, alienating Persian Gulf allies and affecting energy supplies and the global economy.
Despite the lull in the Gulf, fighting between Iran’s Houthi allies and Saudi Arabia on Saturday indicated the war, which has already disrupted energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, could affect a second major shipping route and reignite Yemen’s civil war.Separately, Iran’s Foreign Ministry accused Ukraine of attacking an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, saying it resulted in an explosion that killed a sailor and injured another.
Earlier on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a social media post praised the results of “long‑range strikes” in the Caspian Sea, alluding to vessels shipping military cargo, but did not identify the nationality of the targets.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Tehran to convey its protest over what it described as a “hostile and criminal” attack, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.
The Iranian denunciation coincided with comments by Zelenskiy that Kyiv had noted Russia was passing on its satellite observations in the Middle East to Iran to enable it to direct strikes in the region.
WAR THREATENS TO SPREAD TO YEMEN
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group struck sites belonging to Saudi state oil company Aramco in Jizan and Yanbu. Video shared on social media and verified by Reuters showed a large column of smoke rising from the direction of the Aramco refinery in Jizan.
Two Asia-based trading sources said they had been informed of potential damage to fuel and oil storage sites at Jizan. Aramco (2222.SE), opens new tab did not respond to requests for comment.
In Yanbu, two ballistic missiles aimed at oil installations were intercepted by a U.S.-made Patriot battery operated in Saudi Arabia by the Greek military under an agreement with Riyadh, Greek security sources said.
Yanbu, Saudi Arabia’s main Red Sea oil port, has become a key route for Saudi oil skirting the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blockaded. Up to 400,000 barrels can be processed daily at the oil refinery in Jizan, a city on the Red Sea close to the Yemeni border.