A building inside the headquarters compound of Saudi Aramco, the kingdom's state oil giant, was struck in an attack claimed by Yemen's Houthi movement. The strike set off a fire and caused damage, Saudi Arabia's energy ministry said, though the kingdom's oil production and exports were not reported disrupted.

Aramco's headquarters sits in Dhahran, in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. The Houthis, based in Yemen, have carried out missile and drone strikes against Saudi targets in past years and have more recently expanded their attacks to include Israeli and shipping targets as well.

The strike comes as tensions between the United States and Iran have been escalating. Iranian officials said they were "counting the moments" until they could strike U.S. warships in the region, a remark that reflects the broader friction between Washington and Tehran. The Houthis have long maintained ties to Iran, though the precise nature of that support in this instance has not been independently detailed.

The full scale of the damage to Aramco's headquarters was still being assessed. Saudi authorities have not detailed casualties, and it remains unclear how the affected building relates to the company's production operations versus its administrative functions. Aramco, one of the world's most valuable companies and a central pillar of the Saudi economy, has not issued a detailed public accounting of the damage.

The attack is the latest in a series of Houthi strikes that have continued since the group became involved in Yemen's civil war. The group has carried out attacks on shipping as well as on targets inside Saudi Arabia in recent years.

References

1. 1.Reuters — details of the attack, energy ministry statement, and no reported disruption to oil production or exports
2. 2.AP — Iranian officials' 'counting the moments' quote and context on U.S.-Iran tensions
3. 3.Al Jazeera — background on Houthi attacks against Saudi, Israeli, and shipping targets