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(Bloomberg) — The US paused its almost two-week run of strikes against Iran for a second night as skirmishes between Yemen’s Houthi militants and Saudi Arabia ratcheted up tensions near a global energy chokepoint in the southern Red Sea.

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The Iran-backed Houthis said they fired missiles and drones at facilities linked to oil giant Saudi Aramco in the port towns of Jizan and Yanbu on Saturday. There was no immediate confirmation from the Saudi government or Aramco. 

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Saudi authorities briefly issued emergency warnings, before saying the danger had passed. A Saudi-led coalition responded by striking Houthi military positions later Saturday, according to Yemen TV, a channel affiliated with the country’s internationally recognized government. 

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After attacking Iran for 13 days, the US has apparently held off since Friday night without any explanation or announcement, raising further questions over President Donald Trump’s war strategy and the state of any negotiations. The Islamic Republic’s media and government haven’t reported any incoming attacks either. 

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Talks between Iranian and Omani officials over the weekend indicated an attempt to resolve the crucial issue of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, the flashpoint that caused the collapse of a ceasefire agreed in mid-June.

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In the meantime, the escalation in the Red Sea compounds an already severe squeeze on regional energy flows caused by the near-total stoppage of traffic via Hormuz, previously the conduit for a fifth of global crude supplies.

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On Friday, the Saudi-led coalition struck the port from which the Houthis’ maritime assaults in the Red Sea typically originate. The Houthis also announced they would blockade Saudi ports and attacked three Saudi-linked oil tankers in the sea.

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Any sustained disruption to Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea export routes, through which it’s sending millions of barrels of oil a day as a workaround, mainly from Yanbu, would likely push up crude prices even more.

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Brent crude has soared around 27% in the past two weeks as US-Iran clashes worsened and the Houthis effectively opened a second front in the war. The global benchmark closed on Friday at $96.78 a barrel.

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Trump, who‘s increasingly frustrated with Iran for refusing to reopen Hormuz, said late Friday the US is “locked and loaded” for major strikes on Iran. He added he had not made a decision on whether to go ahead, after telling Axios a few days ago he was mulling a “massive attack.”

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The New York Times reported that Trump and his advisers have decided to hold off plans to escalate the US strikes for now, in part over concerns that the war could drain the already-diminished stores of Patriot anti-missile interceptors and other air defense weapons in the region.

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Trump has consistently said “he prefers a diplomatic solution, but he continues to retain all options if Iran continues terrorist activities in the Strait of Hormuz or against allies,” White House spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. It would be “wise for Iran to work toward a negotiated deal.”