Iran war: Saudi helicopter crash kills two as tanker attacks threaten Hormuz
Two Saudi military personnel were killed in a helicopter crash near Yemen on Sunday, as regional fighting intensified and tanker attacks threatened shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Saudi-led coalition said an AH-6i reconnaissance helicopter crashed in Najran due to a technical malfunction, killing both crew members.
Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said the aircraft crashed in an area under the Saudi National Guard Ministry’s jurisdiction.
The incident followed a claim by Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree that the group had shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter near Najran on Saturday. Al-Maliki rejected the claim.
Najran has faced repeated Houthi attacks as Yemen’s conflict increasingly becomes another front in the U.S.-led war against Iran.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said two supertankers struck naval mines on Saturday, triggering fires. The Iranian navy separately reported a tanker burning in the Gulf of Oman.
The IRGC reiterated that the Strait of Hormuz remained closed to vessels travelling without Iranian authorisation.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency also reported two tanker attacks near Saudi Arabia on Friday, including one involving a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a small boat.
The Iranian claims could not be independently verified.
Despite the maritime threats, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had submitted a seven-day proposal through Qatar to reopen the strait if certain conditions were met.
Araghchi said the decision now rested with Washington.
U.S. Central Command offered a contrasting assessment, saying 97% of vessels attempting to cross the strait had done so without being struck by Iranian projectiles.
The military also said it had redirected 138 commercial vessels to enforce its blockade of Iranian ports.
Separately, the Saudi-led coalition reported intercepting ballistic missiles and drones launched by Yemen’s Houthis towards Riyadh, Khamis Mushait and other areas.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pledged to defend Saudi Arabia if necessary, seeking parliamentary authorisation for potential military assistance.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the Iran war would end “very quickly” and predicted lower fuel prices once hostilities ceased.
However, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Iran of further military devastation unless it abandoned its nuclear ambitions.
The developments highlight the widening conflict and mounting threats to regional energy supplies.
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