Saudi-led forces have launched airstrikes north of the Yemen port city of Hodeidah, targeting Houthi rebels’ capacity to mount remote-controlled assaults on shipping in the Red Sea.

The Houthi rebels, battling Saudi support for the UN-recognised Yemen government for the past five years, claimed the airstrikes on four sites were in violation of the ceasefire agreement signed in December 2018 in Stockholm. A Houthi military spokesman described the assault as a serious escalation and a reprisal for the Houthi-claimed assault on Saudi oil installations last weekend.

Defending the attacks, the Saudi coalition spokesman, Turki Al-Malik, said: “The coalition’s naval forces detected an attempt by the terrorist Houthi militia backed by Iran to carry out an imminent act of aggression and terrorism in the southern Red Sea using an unmanned, rigged boat ... launched from Hodeidah province.”

The Saudi attacks were seen by the Houthis as an attempted show of strength in response to the last Saturday’s devastating assault on the Saudi Aramco oil facilities, a strike that exposed the vulnerability of the Saudi oilfields to terrorism.

The Houthis continue to claim responsibility for the attack on the facilities which temporarily knocked out half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production capacity, and raised deep questions about Saudi Arabia’s ability to press ahead with its IPO sale. Videos showing cars queuing for petrol in Saudi Arabia were posted on social media.

Both Riyadh and Washington are continuing to point the finger directly at Iran, with the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, describing the attack as an act of war by Tehran.