The emergency shutdown of the East-West pipeline – which moves about 5 per cent of the world’s oil supply – has sparked fears over global energy supplies.

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It comes as oil prices surged past US$100 a barrel for the first time since July this week amid volatile trading driven by escalating Middle East tensions.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy confirmed the attack in a statement on Friday, revealing the pipeline “was subjected to multiple attacks” the previous day that caused a number of injuries and forced authorities to shut it down “as a precautionary measure”.

Two US officials told CNN that pump stations along the pipeline were the primary target as satellite images appear to show extensive fire damage at one pumping station.

A separate image captured a smaller blaze sending thick black smoke into the sky.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the strikes yet, Iraqi authorities have found drone launchers near the country’s border with Iran and ordered the closure of three border crossings with Iran.

Experts also point to Iran-aligned militias operating in the Iraq, which have previously targeted Saudi infrastructure amid Tehran’s strategy of using proxy forces to pressure Gulf States over their support for US military action in the region.

Mr Trump agreed that Iran was most likely responsible for the attacks.

‘Fine and dandy’

Speaking at a press conference during his visit to Ireland, Mr Trump said of Iran: “I think they are (responsible), probably they are. They are on the balls of their feet right now.”

He said he had spoken to Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (MBS) after a report emerged MBS had urged the president to strike the Iran-backed Houthi militia which predominantly operates in Yemen.

“I have made a call with MBS,” he said, “He’s a good friend of mine, and it’s going to – I can just say everything’s going to work out fine and dandy. It’s going to be very good.”

Mr Trump said he has also had discussions with the Houthis who “called us and they don’t want to fight with us.”

“They don’t want us to go after them and would much prefer not having us involved and they’re letting most ships go through, it’s just one country they’re not too happy with. And we’ll get that straightened out,” Mr Trump said.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said it would not be immediately retaliating to the attack but would support Iraq in preventing attacks launched from its territory.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia affirms that it reserves its right to take all necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty and security, protect its facilities, and ensure the safety of its citizens and residents,” it added.

Authorities in Iraq on Saturday said they had “started administrative and security reorganisation operations at several border crossings” with Iran and stepped up intelligence activities to determine “the breaches and violations that took place at these crossings”.

In a statement, the Gulf Cooperation Council – a regional security alliance which includes representatives from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman – described the attack as an “unacceptable threat”.

“This attack represents a dangerous escalation and an unacceptable threat to the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, its territorial integrity, and its vital installations, as well as a flagrant violation of the principles of international law,” the statement read.

In July, the US and Saudi Arabia said they had struck Iran-backed militants in Iraq in response to attacks on US forces and Saudi oil facilities.

Pro-Iran armed groups have supported Tehran during the Middle East war, claiming hundreds of attacks on US bases in Iraq and across the region.

On Saturday, those groups, operating under the umbrella of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, said they had not struck the pipeline.

Key port seized

The attack on the pipeline comes just days after the Iran-backed Houthis seized a key Red Sea port in Yemen, further threatening shipping routes crucial to global energy markets.

The targeted pipeline has become a lifeline for Saudi Arabia since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. The kingdom has been rerouting roughly five million barrels of oil daily through the pipeline to its Red Sea port at Yanbu — an alternative now also under threat, with Houthi forces vowing to strike Saudi vessels attempting to pass through the Bab al-Mandeb strait.

The attack coincides with reports that Saudi crude production plunged last month to its lowest level since 1990.

The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline as a “flagrant violation” of sovereignty and international law, as well as an assault on the security of energy supplies.

“While affirming that such attacks constitute a dangerous escalation that undermines the security and stability of the region, the Ministry emphasises the importance of the Iraqi government taking the necessary measures to ensure that its territory is not used as a launchpad for such attacks, and to work towards stopping them and preventing their recurrence,” a statement issued by the ministry of foreign affairs reads.

“The Ministry renews the State of Kuwait’s absolute solidarity with the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”.

‘It’s fallen’: Iran ally seizes vital oil route

The Iran-backed Houthis have also seized control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast and captured three strategic islands on Friday, in a lightning offensive that cemented their hold on a vital shipping corridor linking Europe and Asia.

The developments are likely to deepen the Middle East war’s impact on international commerce, months after the Strait of Hormuz was blockaded by Iran, which hailed its Yemeni allies’ advance on Friday.

After a week-long offensive that has left hundreds dead, government officials said the Houthis now hold the Yemeni side of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the southern gateway to the Red Sea and, in turn, the Suez Canal.

Yemen’s government forces target Houthi sites

Yemen’s government have since released footage showing what it said is Yemeni Armed Forces targeting Houthi equipment and sites in Dhubab and the northern fronts.

The footage shows Yemeni governments counteroffensive which is mostly consisting of air strikes accompanied by Saudi fighter jets, targeting any military arsenal being piled up and reinforced.

The air strikes are targeting what is believed to be Houthi militia positions and weapons warehouses.

Most of the attacks are taking place south of Mocha, in the district of Dhubab, which fell under the Houthis, according to Al Jazeera.

Yemen’s internationally recognised government has since confirmed the air attacks on Houthi forces.

“The armed forces destroyed vehicles and weapons and killed members of the Houthi terrorist militia backed by the Iranian regime,” near the port of the city of Mocha, government news agency Saba reported.

It comes after the Houthi forces said they have seized full control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast following a rapid advance against government forces.

A local official with Yemen’s Saudi-backed government said on Friday that the Houthis had “completed their takeover of the Bab al-Mandab area and Mayyun Island”.

A government military official later reported the group had also seized Greater and Lesser Hanish, the last two islands in the narrow waterway not under their control, as well as all of the neighbouring Red Sea coastline.

“Everything that was under our control on the western coast has fallen,” the military official added.

A witness told AFP that gunmen were “deploying along the Bab al-Mandab shore and are driving around in military vehicles”.

The capture of the islands, particularly Mayyun in the middle of the strait, heightens the Houthis’ ability to attack Saudi tankers, which they have been targeting since July.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has relied on the Red Sea ever since Iran’s Hormuz blockade choked off its shipments via The Gulf.

Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, congratulated the Houthis on their “resounding victory” on Friday.

“Now the Iranians don’t only control Hormuz and the Strait of Hormuz, but they control the other most strategic choke point in the Middle East,” Farea Al-Muslimi, research fellow at the Chatham House think tank, told AFP.

Oil prices have soared past $US100 a barrel this week, while average US diesel prices topped $6 for the first time on Friday – a potential headache for US President Donald Trump ahead of midterm elections.

The Houthis’ military spokesman said navigation through the Bab al-Mandab Strait was “safe” for all but Saudi Arabia following the latest advances.

“Maritime navigation is safe for all companies except Saudi ships, which have already been banned,” Yahya Saree said in a statement.

‘Great victories’

The Houthi offensive has cost more than 500 lives, and has displaced about 46,000 people, the UN migration agency said on Friday.

It is part of renewed hostilities in divided Yemen’s brutal civil war that began with the group’s takeover of capital Sanaa in 2014.

Sanaa resident Abdulhamid Dhaifallah lauded the group’s “great victories” in and along the strait, adding they “were not small achievements”.

“They have been preparing for this front for four years,” he said. The Houthis also carried out their heaviest missile and drone attack in years this week against their longtime foe Saudi Arabia – Yemen’s northern neighbour – setting oil sites ablaze and wounding 73.

Before the Red Sea offensive, the Houthis already controlled a large part of Yemen’s north.

They have recently attacked government-held areas in Hodeida and Taiz provinces and swept down the coast, seizing the port city of Mocha and Zuqar island, north of the Bab al-Mandab, on Thursday.

Mohamed, 46, who fled Mocha in the middle of the night, told AFP there was an “apocalyptic” atmosphere in the historic city.

‘Dangerous conflict’

While Saudi Arabia has hit back with air strikes and ordered troop reinforcements from Aden, where the internationally recognised government is based, it has failed to stop the Houthis’ gains.

Houthi media said two Saudi strikes hit Mocha’s airport on Friday, while a local official there said the city’s seaport was also hit by six missiles of unknown origin.

“I think the Saudis have tried everything they can to avoid this war, but I don’t think they have any more choice,” said Chatham House’s Al-Muslimi.

The UN Security Council met Thursday to discuss the conflict with Yemen envoy Hans Grundberg, who called for “the active investment of every member of this body to contain” what could become a more dangerous conflict.

The ongoing exchanges risk reviving a war that killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and sparked one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The Houthis, after seizing Sanaa and forcing out the government, fought a Saudi-led coalition from 2015 until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire in 2022

– with AFP