Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper and his accompanying delegation in Jeddah on Monday, state news agency SPA reported. During the meeting, the two sides reviewed bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and the US, as well as the latest regional developments. The meeting was also attended by Saudi Minister of State, Cabinet member and National Security Adviser Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban. The statement comes amid escalation between government forces and Houthis in Yemen, and the rebel group's attacks on energy facilities in Saudi Arabia. Houthis claim large-scale missile, drone attack on King Khalid Air Base in Saudi Arabia  Yemen’s Houthis on Monday claimed to have carried out a large-scale missile and drone attack on a Saudi air base in the southern city of Khamis Mushait. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement that the group targeted King Khalid Air Base with dozens of ballistic missiles and drones. He claimed the attack targeted aircraft hangars, radars, runways, ammunition depots and other military facilities, causing “significant losses” at the base. The Houthis said the operation came in response to Saudi airstrikes in Yemen, claiming Saudi F-15 and Typhoon fighter jets had carried out more than 300 strikes across several Yemeni provinces over the past five days. There was no immediate Saudi confirmation of the Houthi claims regarding damage at the air base. Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence issued an alert in Khamis Mushait governorate but later said “the danger has passed.” It urged residents to continue following Civil Defense instructions and avoid gathering and filming. The Houthis vowed to continue attacks inside Saudi Arabia as long as Saudi military operations in Yemen continue, warning that any new attacks would be met with “broader and more severe” operations. Iranian strait authority issues updated list of sanctioned vessels Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority, set up by Iran to manage requests of passage in the Strait of Hormuz, published on Monday an updated list of 77 vessels "violating Iranian protocols for the Strait of Hormuz". Concerns over global energy supply have deepened after the latest attacks around oil transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, with prospects for peace in the Middle East looking as bleak as ever. The body said the listed vessels will face restrictions on future passage, including fines, detention, or confiscation, and added that vessels cooperating with them will be added to the list. "Insurance companies, P&I clubs, and classification societies are warned to refrain from providing services to these vessels to avoid consequences arising from dealing with them," the authority posted on X. فهرست شناورهای متخلف در آدرس https://t.co/oT31eflpLD به‌روزرسانی شد (آدرس صحیح با http می‌باشد). به شرکت‌های بیمه‌گر، کلاب‌های P&I و موسسات رده‌بندی هشدار داده می‌شود، به‌منظور مصونیت از تبعات ناشی از ارتباط با این شناورها، از ارائه خدمات به آن‌ها خودداری نمایند. — PGSA | نهاد مدیریت آبراه خلیج فارس (@PGSA_IRAN) September 14, 2026 P&I clubs are mutual insurance associations that provide ship owners and charterers with coverage for third-party maritime liabilities. Commodity vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz fell to single-digit numbers per day at the weekend, preliminary ship-tracking data showed on Monday, well below the 10-day average of 14. The figures exclude any vessels that might have crossed the strait with their Automatic Identification System transponders turned off to avoid detection. Iran says Oman meeting cancelled at Saudi Arabia’s request Iran said on Monday that a planned meeting in Oman involving foreign ministers from Gulf countries and Tehran was cancelled at Saudi Arabia’s request. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told a press briefing that Riyadh requested the meeting should not take place for the time being. “The report that Saudi Arabia requested that the meeting not be held for now is correct,” Baghaei said, according to state news agency IRNA. He rejected attempts to link Iran to recent developments between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, saying Yemen’s problems have “long-standing roots.” There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia. Baqaei said the planned meeting was expected to provide an opportunity for Iran and Oman to present an understanding reached after weeks of negotiations concerning maritime routes in the Strait of Hormuz and the two countries’ roles as coastal states. He said Tehran had expected regional countries to “recognise the opportunity” and use the meeting to discuss creating a secure region without interference from outside actors. The spokesman said the Iran-Oman understanding has been finalised despite the cancellation of the meeting. “We will decide, in consultation with Oman, on the next step and how to announce or register this understanding,” he added. China slams report it gave Iran intel before deadly strike on US base Beijing rejected “groundless” reports that Chinese entities supplied Tehran with satellite images of a military base housing US troops in Jordan, before and after an Iranian strike killed three American soldiers in Jordan, AFP reported. The reports by the Wall Street Journal over the weekend related to July 17 missile strikes launched by Iran on the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. “We firmly oppose groundless suspicion and accusations without evidence,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun has told a regular news conference. China calls for restraint, dialogue, expresses ‘concern’ amid Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia China on Monday called for “restraint” as well as dialogue amid Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, expressing “concern” over civilian casualties and damages to energy infrastructure. “China is deeply concerned about the casualties of innocent civilians and the damage to energy facilities and other civilian infrastructure caused by recent escalation in Yemen and the Red Sea,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing. He said attacks against civilian infrastructure that bears on people's livelihoods “are unacceptable.” “Increasing turmoil in the region serves no one's interest. The sovereignty and security of all countries should be respected, and the only way out is to resolve disputes through political and diplomatic means,” Guo said. South Korea condemns Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, urges immediate halt South Korea on Monday condemned recent attacks by Yemen's Houthi group targeting civilian and economic facilities in Saudi Arabia and urged an immediate end to the assaults. "We condemn the Houthi rebels' attacks targeting civilians and economic facilities in southern Saudi Arabia, which resulted in a number of civilian casualties," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, according to Yonhap News Agency. Seoul said attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, as well as actions threatening freedom and safety of navigation, could not be justified under any circumstances. It expressed "deep solidarity" with Saudi Arabia and urged the Houthis to refrain from actions that could further escalate regional tensions. The ministry said stability in the Middle East and safe navigation in the Red Sea were important for the international community, particularly for global supply chains and energy security. Iran says reports about activity in Pickaxe Mountain are baseless Esmaeil Baghaei said reports of activity at the country’s Pickaxe Mountain (Kolang Kouh) were baseless, after US President Donald Trump said the United States was monitoring activity there, Reuters reports. Trump had said last week that the US could hit Pickaxe Mountain and urged Iran to be cautious. Qatar to help determine fate of 3 Iranian pilots: Red Crescent Society Qatar has agreed to help determine the fate of three Iranian pilots whose whereabouts remain unclear, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on Monday. The case dates back to March 2, when two Iranian Su-24 fighter jets went down during attacks on a military base in Qatar. Iran says three pilots were captured alive, while another was killed. Iranian Red Crescent Society chief Pir Hossein Kolivand said there was evidence suggesting that the three pilots may be in Qatar and asked the Qatar Red Crescent Society to use its channels to obtain information about their status. Kolivand said the Qatar Red Crescent Society should seek information about the pilots to help their concerned families, citing the neutral humanitarian role of Red Crescent and Red Cross societies. Qatar Red Crescent Society officials pledged to assist in following up on the case and obtaining information about the pilots. The two sides also discussed expanding bilateral cooperation in rescue operations, training and the exchange of expertise. Diplomacy stumbles with postponement of meeting on Strait of Hormuz proposal Middle East diplomacy appeared to falter heading into Monday with the postponement of a meeting between Iran and other Persian Gulf powers, ​while fresh attacks around the region's two most important oil transit routes deepened concern over global energy supplies. Oil prices jumped as markets reopened on Monday, following developments that threaten supplies from the world's ‌biggest exporter, Saudi Arabia, which kept a key 1,200-km (745-mile) east-west pipeline closed throughout the weekend after it was damaged in drone strikes on Friday. Hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough in the near term faded when Oman's foreign minister, Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, posted late Sunday that a regional meeting scheduled for Monday had been postponed "in the interests of consensus." Iranian officials had said they would attend that gathering with Gulf Arab states to present an agreement with Oman on governing shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Fars news agency cited an Iranian foreign ministry official ​as saying that the Oman meeting was postponed at the request of some regional countries in a decision jointly made by Tehran and Muscat. The official said Iran would coordinate with Oman to determine a ​suitable date for holding the meeting. Read: PM Shehbaz condemns Houthi attacks, vows efforts to defuse regional tensions in call with MBS The postponement came on the heels of Saudi Arabia's decision to shut down, at least for now, its pipeline that has served as the ⁠main route for Middle East oil bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, the strait continued to pose risks for oil shipping, with the British maritime security agency UKMTO saying on Sunday that a vessel had been struck by a projectile as it ​moved through the Strait of Hormuz, causing a fire and forcing the crew to be evacuated. Iran, for its part, said one person was killed, and four crew were wounded aboard an Iranian commercial vessel struck off its coast. US diesel hits another record Oil prices surged above $100 last week for the first time since July. The politically sensitive retail price of diesel fuel in the United States rose on Sunday to another all-time high above $6.20 a gallon. Traders and Saudi oil buyers told Reuters on Sunday that Riyadh has enough oil stored at its Red Sea port of Yanbu to maintain exports for just five to seven days if the pipeline struck on Friday remains shut. After that, as much as 4% of global oil supply could be jeopardised, on top of the millions of barrels a day ​already lost to the disruption to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Read more: Trump says US could stay in Iran and keep oil, like Venezuela deal Saudi Arabia has not given full details of the extent of damage to its pipeline or said how long it will remain offline. Sources who spoke to Reuters have ​given conflicting estimates for the time needed to fix it, ranging from days to weeks. Satellite images have shown huge columns of smoke from locations along the pipeline. The recent uptick in violence tied to the war that the United States and Israel launched ‌six months ago ⁠follows a quiet August in which flows of Middle East oil had trickled back up. In an interview with London-based pan-Arab news outlet Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that despite any agreement with Oman, Iran would not reopen the strait until the United States satisfies Tehran's demands. The US has so far failed to achieve the objectives President Donald Trump set out when he launched "Operation Epic Fury" in February: to end Iran's nuclear programme, prevent it from being able to attack its neighbours and create conditions for its people to topple their rulers. On a weekend trip to Ireland that included attending the Irish Open golf tournament, Trump reiterated that he still expected the Iran war to end this year, possibly just after US ​midterm elections in November, and then the price of ​gasoline would "drop like a rock". Trump downplays report China entities helped Iran before attack that killed US troops Trump on Sunday brushed aside a report that Iran acquired ​satellite images of a base in Jordan from Chinese ‌entities before an attack that killed three US troops there in July. A recent report in the Wall Street Journal cited unnamed US officials about the attack ​in Jordan. Asked whether he would mention the issue at ​an upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump did ⁠not directly answer, and instead equated the surveillance activities of ​China and the United States. "They basically do what we do," he told ​reporters aboard Air Force One. "When they say China spies on us, I say you're right and we spy on them too." The Chinese and US presidents are expected ​to meet in the United States on September 24, although China ​has yet to officially confirm that the meeting will take place. Trump on Sunday reiterated ‌his ⁠view that he has a good relationship with Xi. "I think he's behaved reasonably well, and we behave reasonably well," Trump said as he flew back to the United States after a weekend trip to ​Ireland. The Wall Street ​Journal report, which ⁠Reuters could not immediately verify, said the US officials declined to identify the Chinese entities that supplied ​the imagery to Iran and did not allege ​direct involvement ⁠by Beijing. Trump's comments appeared consistent with the administration's recent efforts to play down wide-ranging tensions between Washington and Beijing, despite US frustration over Beijing's ⁠close ​ties to Tehran. At least 18 US service ​personnel have been killed since the U.S-Israeli war with Iran began at the end ​of February. Houthi attacks continue In Saudi Arabia, ⁠state media released video of damage to homes and a mosque from the latest purported cross-border attack by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Jazan province in the south. The Houthis claimed separately to have struck a Saudi military base in a neighbouring province following their capture of Perim Island in the Bab El-Mandeb, the "Gate of Tears" strait that controls the ​mouth of the Red Sea. The Houthi advance along the Red Sea coast is part of the biggest eruption of fighting in Yemen in years. Also read: Yemen’s Houthis claim ballistic missile, drone attack on Saudi military base Their advance and their attacks ​on Saudi Arabia pose a new dilemma ⁠for Washington, which wants to support its Saudi allies and protect shipping but is wary of joining war on another front. The Houthi attacks have also left Gulf states with a difficult choice: accept growing economic pain or engage with Iran. The United States bombed the Houthis for two months in 2025, but Trump halted that campaign after announcing the group had lifted a threat to attack Red Sea shipping. Three sources told Reuters that Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, phoned Trump on ⁠Thursday asking for ​military aid to fight the Houthis, but was offered only intelligence support for now. Trump acknowledged on Saturday that he had spoken to the ​crown prince, and said the Houthis had also phoned the US administration, asking Washington to keep out of the Yemen war. Iran, UAE agree to strengthen ties, expand cooperation: Iranian president Iran and the United Arab Emirates agreed to strengthen bilateral ties and expand cooperation, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday. He made the remarks in New Delhi after meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. “We agreed to move beyond the past and look to the future,” Pezeshkian said, adding the two sides sought a common understanding on building future cooperation. The two leaders also discussed regional developments and efforts to ease tensions and strengthen stability in the region. Their meeting came amid the ongoing US-Iran conflict, which began in February with US and Israeli strikes on Iran and has included attacks on Iranian military, energy and economic infrastructure as well as retaliatory Iranian strikes across the region. Saudi pipeline outage threatens loss of 4% of global oil supply Saudi Arabia will run out of oil stocks for exports if it ‌doesn't restart its major pipeline to the Red Sea within days, leading to a loss of up to 4% of global supply, Saudi oil buyers and traders said. A further decline in Saudi flows will worsen the global supply crunch, which has already pushed global fuel prices to record highs, spurred inflation around ​the world and sent US bond yields to the highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis. Since drone attacks forced ​Saudi Arabia to shut its huge east-west oil pipeline on Friday, Riyadh has not given full details about ⁠the extent of the damage or how long the route will stay offline. Sources that spoke to Reuters gave varying estimates, with ​one saying the damage could take as long as five to six weeks to repair, while another said it could be fixed sooner ​and could resume pumping partially while repairs are ongoing. Saudi Arabia's government media office and energy ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. For the past six months, the pipeline running through the desert across the Arabian Peninsula has spared Saudi Arabia from the brunt of the impact of the ​wartime shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz that has crippled exports from its neighbours. The world's biggest exporter has used the pipeline to ​reroute around 4 million barrels per day — around 4% of global supply — to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. But with the pipeline out ‌of service, ⁠Yanbu now has stocks to maintain exports for just five to seven days, according to three industry sources familiar with Saudi exports. Saudi Arabia also has stocks to supply customers for several days from Egypt's ports of Ain Sukhna on the Red Sea and Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean, a fourth source said. Yanbu storage capacity stands at around 35 million barrels, according to industry estimates, with Ain Sukhna and ​Sidi Kerir able to store 18 ​million and 20 million barrels ⁠respectively. Stocks are not full and will ultimately run out without the east-west pipeline resuming operations, the four sources said. Saudi oil supply has already fallen to a more than three-decade low in August on reduced ​flows via Hormuz and the Red Sea, the International Energy Agency said on Friday. World oil supply ​will decline this year by ⁠5.7 million bpd, or about 6%, the IEA, which coordinates Western energy policies, said. In addition to the attack on the pipeline, Houthi fighters in Yemen, who have threatened Saudi oil shipments, seized an island on Friday in the mouth of the Red Sea. The Middle East supplied around 22 ⁠million barrels ​per day of oil before the war. Flows through the Strait of Hormuz ​have slowed to just 6 million to 9 million bpd, industry sources say. Saudi Arabia told OPEC last week that its oil production had dr