Yemen govt launches offensive to retake Houthi-held areas

 Yemen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government said on Sunday it was launching a major military campaign to recapture all territory held by the Iran-backed Houthis, opening a new phase in a conflict that has become a second front in the wider U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

The offensive would continue "until the country is liberated from the grip of the terrorist militia," Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s presidential council, said in a televised address. A military spokesman later called on the Houthis to lay down their weapons.

The Houthis have held Sanaa and much of the populous northwest since 2014. Reuters reported they launched a surprise offensive last month that captured the Bab el-Mandeb strait area and about 150 km (90 miles) of Red Sea coast, giving them new leverage over a key shipping route.

Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the group fired ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi Aramco sites in Riyadh and the Khurais area in the east, in retaliation for about 60 Saudi air strikes in 24 hours. 

The Saudi-led coalition called the claim "misleading." Saudi authorities and Aramco had not confirmed the cause of a fire at an Aramco refinery on Saturday. 

The Saudi Press Agency said Riyadh was allocating a new 224 million riyals ($59.8 million) to the Yemeni government. Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani urged the UN to step up its humanitarian response as displacement grows.

On Iran, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said earlier that the Strait of Hormuz would stay closed until Washington meets seven conditions based on the Islamabad Memorandum. 

Later, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the U.S. had replied to Iran’s seven-day plan through intermediaries and that the reply was under internal review. 

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the plan aims to end the fighting, reopen Hormuz and restart talks on a final peace deal, with terms closely matching a June memorandum that unraveled during renewed fighting in July.

A tanker was struck by an "unknown projectile" in the strait, UKMTO said. The crew was reportedly safe.

President Masoud Pezeshkian named Hamid Bord, a former National Iranian Oil Company chief, acting oil minister after accepting Mohsen Paknejad’s resignation, state media said.

 OPEC+ agreed on Sunday to keep November oil output targets unchanged, in line with expectations that further policy changes are unlikely until next year. Gulf producers are pumping well below targets due to export disruptions linked to the war on Iran, with exports at 60%-80% of normal levels, while the group’s capacity review for 2027 quotas has been delayed. 

The seven core members produced about 25 million bpd in August, around 5 million bpd below prewar levels, with the group due to meet again on Nov. 1.