Yemen's Houthi movement said on Thursday it had struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, opening a second front against global crude flows.

The Iran-aligned group, which controls Yemen's Red Sea coast, said its missile and drone strikes targeted vessels it named as the Encelia and the Layla, the first attacks since it declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia earlier this week. Riyadh has been rerouting millions of barrels per day by pipeline to Red Sea terminals to bypass Iran's blockade at the mouth of the Gulf.

A maritime security source told Reuters the Encelia had issued a distress call late on Wednesday reporting a missile strike near the Saudi port of Jazan, just north of Yemen. Saudi state news agency SPA said the impact ignited a fire at the vessel's bow. Reuters said it could not immediately verify the reported attack on the Layla.

Brent crude futures jumped 4.80% to $98.59 a barrel by 09:35 GMT, the highest level since last month's short-lived truce collapsed. Several tankers have already diverted north through the Suez Canal rather than transit the Bab el-Mandeb, with some cargoes facing the far longer route around the Cape of Good Hope to reach Asian buyers. Shipping data on Thursday showed two Chinese VLCCs carrying a combined 4mn barrels still attempting to exit via the strait.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, addressing a diplomatic meeting in Southeast Asia, said the price Tehran pays "will get higher every night" until it accepts terms it would honour. "Iran is begging (for a deal) every day. The problem with Iran is every time they make a deal ... they either break it or they want to change it," he said. "So now they're paying the price for it." Rubio said the Houthis had been "snookered into this" by Iran and voiced hope for de-escalation.

Iran, meanwhile, said it had struck US missile systems, weapons depots and fuel storage in Jordan, along with American positions in Kuwait, where it has also hit desalination and power plants this week. Jordan's army said it engaged four Iranian missiles and six drones over 24 hours, intercepting all but one that fell in open ground.

Iranian military spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said retaliation would continue as long as US strikes on Iranian infrastructure persisted, state television reported. Four people familiar with US intelligence told Reuters that earlier Iranian strikes on CIA targets had prompted an inquiry into whether Russia was providing targeting data or drone technology to Tehran.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday vowed to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant for every ship fired on in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's joint military command countered that it would target regional oil, gas, electricity and economic infrastructure to block the export of "even a single drop of oil," according to Iranian state media. Hours later, the Revolutionary Guards reported an explosion on what they described as a mined route at the southern end of the strait, saying one of three tankers caught fire while the other two turned back.