Peru

Lima, September 19, 2026. The Peruvian press, relaying AFP dispatches, describes the escalation in the Middle East first from the angle of its global economic impact. Andina reports that the Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, took control of the Yemeni coast bordering the Red Sea last week, strengthening their grip on the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which "disrupts Saudi Arabia's oil exports, the world's largest exporter," as the price of a barrel now exceeds $100, a surge deemed threatening to the "global economy."

On Wednesday, Riyadh accused the Houthis of launching a "cowardly" drone against Mecca, a "lie" according to the Yemeni rebels. The coalition led by Saudi Arabia warned that the security of the two holy mosques was a "red line." A resident of Mecca told AFP that he saw people "panicking and running to the window" after a drone was intercepted by air defense.

On Thursday, clashes between government forces, backed by Riyadh, and the Houthis resulted in at least 63 deaths: 23 soldiers killed by missiles and drones in the provinces of Taiz and Lahj, and 40 Houthi fighters killed in Saudi airstrikes and ground battles, according to military sources cited by Andina. On the same day, the Saudi Civil Defense announced the first recorded death in the kingdom since the start of the attacks: a Yemeni national killed by shrapnel from an intercepted drone in the province of Taif, near Mecca. El Comercio Perú cites the official statement published on X: Civil Defense "faced the fall of shrapnel from a drone... and this caused the death of a resident of Yemeni nationality." A Saudi woman was injured and a Pakistani national is in critical condition.

Peruvian newspapers link this surge to the breakdown, in July, of the de facto truce negotiated by the UN in 2022, and to the broader conflict opened at the end of February by the US-Israeli offensive against Iran. They also note that the East-West pipeline, which allowed the kingdom to transport up to seven million barrels per day, remains closed, forcing Riyadh to prioritize the Red Sea route connecting the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean since the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran. For the local press, the primary issue is not so much the military battle in Yemen as its repercussions on oil markets, which could weigh on importing economies like Peru's.