Iran war spreads to Red Sea and Caspian, Gulf quiet as US forgoes strikes

WASHINGTON/ATHENS, July 26 (Reuters) - The Iran war broadened over the weekend despite a pause in U.S. strikes, as Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast and Iran accused Ukraine of targeting one of its vessels in the Caspian Sea. The U.S. military said on Saturday its naval blockade against Iran remains in full effect but did not explain why it halted a streak of 13 nights of escalating strikes. There were also no weekend reports of attacks by Iran on neighbors. Asked about the pause, a senior official in President Donald Trump's administration said Trump has always been clear that his preference is diplomacy. Trump has decided, for now, to back away from plans to ramp up attacks on Iran, the New York Times said on Saturday, citing two people briefed on the discussion. The president and his advisers have concerns about expanding the conflict, depleting defense stockpiles, alienating Middle East Gulf allies and affecting energy supplies. Vice President JD Vance and Gen. Dan Caine raised concerns about the U.S. munitions stockpile with Trump during a White House meeting on Friday. Operations are on a hold, a Department of Defense source told CNN. Despite the Gulf lull, Saturday's fighting between Iran's Houthi allies and Saudi Arabia showed that the war could affect a second major shipping route and reignite Yemen's civil war. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group struck sites belonging to Saudi state oil company Aramco in the cities of Jizan and Yanbu on Saturday. A large column of smoke rose from the direction of the Aramco refinery in Jizan. The civil war, in which famine and fighting killed hundreds of thousands, has been paused by a ceasefire since 2022. But that truce broke down this month, with the Houthis effectively joining the wider war.