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A fire that broke out at dawn on Sunday at a Saudi Aramco facility in the country's southwestern region of Jazan was extinguished by the company's industrial security firefighting teams, with Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Energy reporting no injuries in the incident.
The ministry said the fire occurred at one of the facilities belonging to the Saudi Aramco refinery in the region, adding that competent authorities were carrying out the necessary procedures to deal with the incident. "Industrial Security Firefighting Teams affiliated with Saudi Aramco extinguished a fire that broke out at dawn today, Sunday, corresponding to 26/2/1448 AH, in one of the facilities belonging to the Saudi Aramco Refinery in Jazan, with no injuries," the Saudi Ministry of Energy said in a post on X. The ministry did not immediately specify the cause of the fire. "The competent authorities are completing the necessary procedures to deal with the incident," the post added. The development came amid reports from regional sources that Saudi energy infrastructure had been targeted. Anadolu Agency reported that a loud explosion was heard in the Jubail region, while Iranian state media Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), citing Arab sources, reported that gas facilities in Jubail Industrial City had been targeted and caught fire. The cause of the reported blast remained unclear, and there was no immediate confirmation linking the Jubail incident to the fire in Jazan. Jazan, located in southwestern Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea close to the border with Yemen, is home to Saudi Aramco's integrated refinery and petrochemical complex, making the area strategically important to the Kingdom's energy infrastructure. The latest incident also follows a statement by Yemen's Houthis in late July on Telegram that it had carried out missile and drone operations against Aramco-affiliated facilities in Jazan and Yanbu. Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree Qasim Saree said the group had targeted sensitive Aramco facilities in Jazan with ballistic missiles and drones and facilities in Yanbu with ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones. The group in the July 27 statement took responsibility for attacks targeting Saudi oil-transport infrastructure linking the country's eastern oil-producing region with the Red Sea export hub of Yanbu. However, there has been no official Saudi confirmation so far that the latest Jazan fire was caused by a Houthi attack. The reports come against the backdrop of renewed tensions between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, which announced a naval blockade of Riyadh in the Red Sea, particularly along the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, last month, citing Saudi blockade of Yemen--a claim that Riyadh had rejected. The speculation over Saudi energy facilities coming under enemy attack comes days after Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey signed the "Mecca Joint Defence Agreement" on Friday, amid escalating tensions and conflict across West Asia. The agreement, formalised against the backdrop of mounting regional security threats, seeks to strengthen defence and military cooperation among the three countries and bolster their collective deterrence. "The Agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression, and stipulates that any armed attack against any one of the three States shall be regarded as an attack against them all. It further provides for the enhancement of all aspects of defence cooperation among the three States," the summit statement said. While the pact does not specify detailed military obligations or operational commitments, it establishes a framework for enhanced defence cooperation and identifies the promotion of peace, stability and security in the region and beyond as its broader objective. (ANI)
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