Yemen and the Red Sea

Yanbu smoke / possible energy-site fire: hormuzletter claims YASREF refinery hit this morning (still unconfirmed)

This version is a correction.

ATTACK
Location
Yanbu Oil Terminal / YASREF industrial zone (existing pin; no tighter geometry)
Actors
Houthis · Saudi Arabia
Importance
Standard

On 13 September 2026 an open-source monitor (Iran Observer) said smoke was rising from Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu Oil Terminal on the Red Sea and suggested a Houthi strike. On 15 September ~11:43Z, @hormuzletter claimed Houthis appear to have directly struck the YASREF (Yanbu Aramco-Sinopec) 400kbd refinery ‘this morning’, citing footage of heavy black smoke/flare-stack fire, worker evacuation, and NASA FIRMS heat anomalies inside the site. No Saudi Civil Defense, Aramco, or Houthi military statement confirming a YASREF strike has been located. Treat the YASREF-specific OSINT claim and FIRMS cite as competing unverified attribution on the same Yanbu industrial-zone smoke package — not as a confirmed hit.

Why it matters

A named YASREF facility claim with FIRMS cite updates the unconfirmed Yanbu smoke event without inventing confirmation or a second duplicate CREATE.

Verification: unverified

Evidence: Smoke rising from Yanbu Oil Terminal, hormuzletter: claims YASREF Yanbu refinery struck this morning

STILL UNVERIFIED. Original: single OSINT monitor (Iran Observer) smoke at Yanbu Oil Terminal with inferred Houthi attribution. Update 15 Sep: hormuzletter claims a direct YASREF (Yanbu Aramco-Sinopec) refinery hit citing smoke/FIRMS/worker evacuation — no Saudi Civil Defense, Aramco, or Houthi official confirmation located. Do not treat as confirmed strike.