Iran-backed Houthis claim missile attack on Saudi Arabia

There have been protests in recent days in support of the Houthi-imposed naval blockade in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a

The Iranian-backed Houthis have claimed a missile attack on Saudi Arabia, after Riyadh launched strikes on targets linked to the group on Friday.

Early on Saturday, the Houthis' Ansarollah media said on Telegram that a "Yemeni missile strike" had caused fires in the Saudi city of Jizan. Saudi authorities had issued emergency alerts for the province.

The group had vowed retaliation after Saudi Arabia launched air strikes on Houthi targets in the Yemeni port city of Hodeida and a nearby island on Friday.

It came as there were no overnight reports of air strikes in the wider region by the US or Iran for the first time in two weeks.

The US military did not announce fresh strikes on Iran on Saturday, having carried out 13 consecutive nights of attacks on the country. During this time, Iran has also launched drone strikes on US military facilities and bases across the Middle East.

Earlier, a delegation from Oman arrived in Iran's capital Tehran for talks on the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported. Oman controls the strait's southern coastline.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday afternoon, Trump continued to threaten further attacks while saying that negotiations were continuing.

"We are talking to them. I think they're being serious. I think ... they are being by far the most serious that we've seen them, but that doesn't mean we get there," he said.

Asked about his exit strategy for the Iran war, Trump said: "There's a military exit where we just keep going just the way we are, and we can even make it a heavier dose, and it's knocking out everything they have. Or there's a smarter strategy that you make a deal."

In the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, the US military said it had fired on and disabled a tanker ship in the Gulf of Oman that was attempting to evade the American blockade on Iranian ports.

The vessel attacked by the US is the second commercial ship the US has disabled since it reimposed its blockade earlier this month.

"We disabled the tanker after the crew attempted to run the blockade at least four times prior," Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, spokesman for US Central Command, told AFP.

"The crew was repeatedly warned, didn't comply, and US forces on scene disabled the ship after firing into its engine room," he said. "The ship is no longer transiting to Iran."

Growing concern over new threats to shipping in the Red Sea from Yemen's Houthis helped push the price of crude oil back over