DOHA, Qatar — The United States rushed hundreds of Marines into the Gulf on Thursday after an attack that U.S. officials say was carried out by Iran on a Saudi military installation left roughly two dozen American service members injured earlier this week.
According to a U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity, elements of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit disembarked from the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan at a Red Sea port near Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, late Wednesday. The deployment is intended to bolster air-defense coverage for U.S. forces stationed across the kingdom and nearby Gulf states, the official said.
The escalation follows reports that an Iranian ballistic-missile salvo struck the Prince Sultan Air Base south of Riyadh on Monday night. While none of the wounded Americans sustained life-threatening injuries, the episode marks one of the most serious breaches of U.S. defenses since the Israel-Iran confrontation flared last month. Tehran has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility, but a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei posted on the X platform that “resistance actions will continue until foreign aggression ends.”
Complicating matters, Yemen’s Houthi movement on Thursday broadcast that it is “officially at war” with the United States and Israel, vowing to target commercial and naval traffic in the Red Sea. The group claimed responsibility for two drone strikes that damaged a Panamanian-flagged tanker off the Bab el-Mandeb strait, though shipping monitors said the vessel remained afloat.
“We are looking at a genuine multi-front scenario,” said Mira Al-Sayed, a Gulf security analyst at the Eurasia Group. “Washington now has to defend fixed bases in Saudi Arabia, deter Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and keep Israel supplied — all without triggering a region-wide conflict.”
Pentagon planners are considering moving additional Patriot and THAAD missile batteries to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two officials confirmed, while refueling tankers based in Qatar have begun round-the-clock sorties. Global energy markets reacted swiftly: Brent crude futures briefly topped $95 a barrel on Thursday afternoon before paring gains.
The White House has not ruled out a direct response. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said President Biden “will act to protect American personnel,” but added that Washington remains “in close consultation with partners to de-escalate.”
Analysts warn that absent a diplomatic off-ramp, skirmishes could spill into shipping lanes that carry nearly a fifth of the world’s oil. “Every new incident raises the risk premium,” noted Ben Cahill, an energy fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Even if shots stop tomorrow, insurers will bake in higher costs for months.”
Regional diplomats are now pressing Oman and Qatar to relaunch backchannel talks with Iran, but with the Houthis declaring open season and U.S. troops already wounded, the window for quiet diplomacy may be narrowing fast.