If Saudi, UAE join 'coalition of aggression' against Yemen, we'll target their oil, gas fields: Yemeni-Houthi official

Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Yemeni-Houthi Ansar Allah Political Bureau, has said that if Saudi Arabia and UAE become a part of any “coalition of aggression and escalation” against Yemen, the West Asian country will not leave any one of their oil or gas field intact.

Yemeni-Houthi Official Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti: If Saudi Arabia or the UAE Join a Coalition against Yemen, We Will Target Their Oil and Gas Fields, Tankers – "Winter Is Coming in Europe and America" #Houthis #Yemen #KSA #UAE @M_N_Albukhaiti pic.twitter.com/ZhnzxLtyNK

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) December 7, 2023

In a 5 December show on France 24 TV, Al-Bukhaiti said that Yemen will not only destroy their oil or gas fields but also target their oil tankers. “Winter is coming in Europe and America,” said Al-Bukhaiti in a veiled warning. Yemen lies beside the southern mouth of the Red Sea, one of the most important trade routes in the world for oil tankers, which pass near Yemen’s shores while heading from the Middle East through the Suez Canal to Europe. The Houthi militants, who have been engaged in a war with Saudi Arabia since 2014, have previously claimed responsibility for several attacks on Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure, including pipelines and refineries, as well as vessels in waterways such as the Red Sea. The most high-profile incident in Saudi Arabia claimed by the Houthis was in 2019 when armed drones hit Saudi Aramco’s giant Abqaiq oil processing facility, knocking off about 5 per cent of the world’s global oil supply and sending oil prices soaring. The UAE - Saudi Arabia’s ally in its war in Yemen - has also found itself increasingly targeted by militants earlier in 2022, with Houthis claiming an attack in January on storage tanks owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., the UAE’s biggest energy producer. Energy and oil supply security issues have been brought into even sharper focus since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine raised concerns over potential disruptions and shrinking global spare capacity. With inputs from agencies