Signs of U.S. military buildup as Iran attacks Jordan, Houthis hit ships

The European Union's top diplomat condemned a Houthi attack on an oil tanker in the Red Sea as "unacceptable" on Thursday, and called the Iranian proxy group's threat to impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia "a dangerous escalation."

"The attack on an oil tanker in the Red Sea is unacceptable, illegal, and further inflames an already volatile situation in the region," Kaja Kallas, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, said Thursday in a statement.

Yemen's Houthis said they struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia's state news agency reported a Saudi-flagged ship called The Encelia was "targeted while sailing in the Red Sea," causing "a fire on the vessel's bow." All crew members were reportedly safe.

U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a British military agency, said Wednesday that a tanker was "struck by an unknown projectile which has caused a fire onboard," in an incident 70 nautical miles southwest of the Saudi coast.

These "recent threats … pose a direct threat to regional stability and constitute a dangerous escalation," said Kallas. "Navigation must be unimpeded, in the Strait of Hormuz as well as in the Red Sea."

President Trump threatened "major military punishment" on Thursday for Iran and its Houthi rebel allies if the Yemeni rebel group launches further attacks on Saudi vessels in the Red Sea.

"During our conflict with Iran, they [Houthis] have acted very responsibly. Unfortunately, now they are starting up again, shooting at two Saudi Arabian ships last night," Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if they do this again, the U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis."

Mr. Trump said he was "very disappointed" in the Houthis, a powerful Yemeni rebel movement that has controlled much of the impoverished country for over a decade, with support from Tehran.

The Houthis claimed Wednesday to have struck two Saudi tankers. So far, Saudi authorities have only confirmed that one, the Encelia, was struck.

President Trump said Thursday that a newly-signed nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia is dependent on the kingdom joining the Abraham Accords, a pact to normalize relations with Israel, and will not give the Saudis a domestic enrichment capacity.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Wednesday that the U.S. and Saudi Arabia had signed a commercial nuclear deal that could see the kingdom develop a civilian nuc