Oil price to fall to $50 per barrel, reports WSJ citing Riyadh Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman has said that #oil prices may fall to $50 per barrel unless a number of OPEC+ nations adhere to agreed output limits, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported citing sources. This comes amid an online meeting of the #OPEC+ ministerial monitoring committee aimed at estimating the current situation on the oil market, which is taking place now. Its participants intend to discuss the issue of weakening output restrictions in December, according to the publication. #Riyadh has warned a number of countries, including Iraq, against an increase in oil production, indicating that they should observe their OPEC+ commitments. The price of futures contracts of Brent crude oil for December delivery rose above $76 per barrel on London's ICE earlier on Wednesday for the first time since September 3, 2024. The price of oil is rising amid an escalation in the Middle East.

The connection between Yemen and today's killed Hezbollah officer The Iran-proxy #Houthis shot THREE missiles at Tel Aviv in response to IDF killing in Beirut today of Muhammad Sarur - WHY? The shooting from Yemen comes after confirmation by #Hezbollah of the assassination of Mohammed #Sarur, a senior Hezbollah member who was a military adviser to the Houthis in the previous decade. The Al-Arabiya network published the documentation of Muhammad Sarur, a senior Hezbollah official who was eliminated, while he was training the Houthis in 2016. According to the report, he assisted them in preparing to attack Saudi Arabia. Reports claim THREE missiles were shot, and not one as thought before (unverified by IDF) It is said that Sarur returned just a few days before from Houthi-controlled area of Yemen

A day of fighting in Yemen While the world looks at Yemen and sees "#Houthis" who attack in the Red Sea, a lot more is happening in #Yemen that no one (yet) is reporting on. - Saudi Arabia continues to fire artillery at the Houthis on the border with Yemen in the Shada region (northwest Yemen). Unconfirmed reports indicate that the Saudis killed a Yemeni citizen and wounded seven others. - An exchange of fire took place between the Yemeni army and the Houthis in the western region. The Yemeni army reports 19 dead and wounded among its soldiers, but no numbers were available for the Houthi side. A map done by Eran Malka is attached showing the areas of control in Yemen that will help in understanding the chaos going on there. 'In short, while Saudi Arabia and the UAE fought the Houthis for 7 years, there is now a "ceasefire". How much longer this will last before war breaks out - we will have to wait and see.'

#Houthis damage four undersea #cables between #Europe, #Asia The Yemen-based Houthi rebels from the Ansar Allah movement have damaged four international underwater cables in the Red Sea which connected Asia, Europe and Africa, Israel’s Globes newspaper reported. According to its information, Houthi attacks in the Red Sea damaged four submarine communication cables between Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Djibouti in East Africa. The attacks triggered "serious disruption of Internet communications between Europe and Asia, with the main damage being felt in the Gulf countries and India." According to experts, the damage is not critical because other cables are still functioning. The newspaper said that it may take at least two months to restore the damaged cables.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard deployed in Yemen 🔶️ The IRGC has stationed missile and drone trainers and operators in Yemen, as well as personnel providing tactical intelligence support to the Houthis, U.S. and Middle East officials told Semafor. The IRGC, through its overseas Qods Force, has also overseen the transfer to the Houthis of the attack drones, cruise missiles, and medium-range ballistic missiles used in a string of strikes on Red Sea and Israeli targets in recent weeks, these officials said. 🔶️ The Houthis say that its military operations are designed to aid the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, which has been locked in a three-month war with Israel. On Monday, the Pentagon said the Houthis struck a U.S.-owned and -operated container vessel, the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, in the Red Sea, but caused no significant damage. The Houthis fired a second anti-ship ballistic missile into the southern Red Sea, the U.S. Central Command said, but it “failed in flight and impacted on land in Yemen.” 🔶️ The IRGC’s overall presence inside Yemen is overseen by Gen. Abdul Reza Shahlai, a Tehran-based commander whom the Trump administration attempted to assassinate in a 2020 drone strike inside Yemen, U.S. and Mideast officials said. American intelligence believes Shahlai is deeply involved in Tehran’s overseas terrorist operations through his role as the Qods Force’s deputy commander. 🔶️ This includes a role in overseeing an unsuccessful 2011 Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s then-ambassador to the U.S., Adel al-Jubeir, at a Washington, D.C. restaurant. Shahlai, who’s been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department, also helped oversee IRGC attacks against U.S. military personnel in Iraq over the past two decades. The Department of Justice offered $15 million in 2019 for information related to the commander’s operations and networks. 🔶️ Last month, the White House declassified some information related to Iran’s backing of the Houthis, including the intelligence and targeting support. But it didn’t reference the IRGC’s on-ground presence in Yemen, or Shahlai’s role in the Houthis’ operations.

Massive strike on Yemen - how did the coalition operation go? During the night, the United States-led coalition forces launched an attack on Ansarallah targets in Yemen. The preparations for the operation began a day earlier, coinciding with the release of the first media reports about a similar scenario. 🔻The naval group positioned itself in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Interestingly, the Iranian warship detachment, seemingly aware of the impending attack, withdrew from the Red Sea. ▪️ An hour before the raid, an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft took off from Al-Udeid airbase. Additionally, an R-8A anti-submarine aircraft took off from Sheikh Isa. Prior to these actions, satellites had been actively capturing footage of Houthi positions for a week. ▪️ At half past three in the morning, US Air Force F-16s, along with F/A-18s from an aircraft carrier and British Typhoon fighters, launched an attack on the port and airfield of Al-Hodeidah. ▪️ Following that, U.S. destroyers fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at military and civilian airports, as well as two military bases. ▪️ The targets of the attack were UAV assembly points and positional areas. In total, over 100 missiles were launched. However, there is no reliable information available yet regarding the extent of the destruction caused. 🔻This attack brings to mind the events of 2015, when Yemen was also subjected to bombings. However, the coalition failed to achieve their desired outcome back then. It is important to note that we should not expect anything extraordinary this time either. ▪️ Except for Oman, the Arab monarchies provided their airspace for the attack on Yemen. The Houthis might use this as a justification to retaliate against Saudi Arabia or the UAE. ▪️ The French have not yet participated in the operation (despite having an aviation group in Djibouti and Eritrea). However, with the escalation of the situation, they have transferred an additional 16 Mirages there. It is expected that the French will eventually join the attacks on Yemen (the frigate Languedoc has been involved in the protection of shipping for quite some time now).

Houthis conducting military mobilization in Yemeni areas they control — group’s leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Yemeni rebel group Ansar Allah, has said it is conducting military mobilization in most of the country’s areas under its control. "Our nation has moved to military mobilization measures in most provinces and the number of conscripts is in the thousands," al-Houthi said in a speech broadcast by Al Masirah television. He also called on Ansar Allah supporters to continue "combat training, rallies, marches and donating money despite the dire circumstances." The Houthis have repeatedly said they are ready to join the fighting in the Gaza Strip on the side of Hamas. The Ansar Allah leader has called on Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen, to allow the passage of Houthi ground forces toward the Gaza Strip.

The U.S. and its allies have weighed striking Yemen’s Houthi militants after telling them to either halt their attacks on ships in the Red Sea or face unspecified action If diplomacy fails, the US and its allies will have to carefully “choose options that are clearly defensible” and which target the Houthis’ ability to continue disrupting Red Sea navigation while “avoiding getting involved in a regional conflict,” says Nick Childs, senior fellow for naval forces and maritime security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Targeted Strikes 🔶️ These would be focused on eliminating or degrading the Houthis’ ability to fire ballistic missiles at ships and shipping lanes by striking launch sites, radars, missile warehouses and other supporting infrastructure and logistics. Since mid-November, the Houthis have fired more than 100 drones and ballistic missiles in two dozen separate attacks, according to the Pentagon. More than 15 vessels have been targeted. Major Offensive 🔶️ Most Yemeni factions that have been fighting the Houthis since they captured the capital Sanaa nearly a decade ago, alongside some regional backers such as the United Arab Emirates, favor strong retaliation. That includes re-designating the Houthis as terrorists, targeting their finances and launching broader military action if necessary. Some say ousting the Houthis from the port city of Al-Hudaydah is the only way to restore calm to the Red Sea. 🔶️ Many blame the Houthis’ coastal presence on the pressure exerted by the US and other Western powers on anti-Houthi forces, as well as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to halt a major offensive in 2018 to recapture Al-Hudaydah on humanitarian grounds.

Saudi Arabia officially joins BRICS Saudi Arabia has officially joined BRICS as a full-fledged member, the kingdom’s state-run news channel Al Ekhbariya reported. "The kingdom’s full membership of BRICS grouping comprising Russia, China and other countries has begun which strengthens its global positions," the TV channel said.

Two U.S. Navy Amphibs Leave Red Sea Despite Houthi Attacks on Shipping 🔶️ The two U.S. Navy amphibs that were deployed to the Red Sea to deter Iranian-allied Houthi rebels have now been withdrawn to the Mediterranean, though attacks by Houthi forces continue unabated. 🔶️ On Thursday, USS Bataan and USS Carter Hall - two-thirds of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) - transited north through the Suez Canal. They are headed to meet up with the third vessel in their unit, USS Mesa Verde, and will reassemble as a full ARG. 🔶️ So far, the Biden administration has chosen not to use these capabilities (or other U.S. Navy and SOCOM assets) to counter the Houthi threat to merchant shipping. Since the beginning of the Israeli operation in Gaza, Houthi rebels have seized one Israeli-linked merchant ship and launched more than 100 drones and missiles at vessel targets in the Red Sea, including U.S. Navy warships. 🔶️ Saudi Arabia has reportedly urged the White House to refrain from striking Houthi launch sites, for several reasons. The Houthi movement is closely tied to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and it receives substantial financial and material support from Iran. Attacking Houthi units on the ground could scuttle ceasefire talks between Saudi leaders and Houthi forces, and simultaneously set back Saudi attempts to normalize relations with Iran. The Houthis also have the capability to retaliate by launching missiles at Saudi oil infrastructure, and have done so in the past. 🔶️ USS Bataan and Carter Hall may have a different mission now in the Mediterranean. The carrier USS Gerald R. Ford has had her deployment in the Mediterranean extended twice already in order to maintain deterrence against Iranian-aligned militants in Syria and Lebanon. The reconstituted Bataan ARG might have enough firepower to relieve Ford on station off Israel, allowing allow the carrier to go home at last (as previously planned, noted USNI). The carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was originally scheduled to relieve Ford, is needed in the Gulf of Aden to assist in countering the Houthi drone threat.