Houthis attack Riyadh amid escalating tensions with Saudi Arabia
RIYADH — Yemen’s Houthis claimed responsibility for attacking “sensitive” sites in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday using missiles and drones, just hours after flames and a large plume of smoke were spotted near the city’s main airport, reports BritPanorama.
Saudi Arabia had issued alerts overnight concerning potential dangers around Riyadh, reflecting an uptick in Houthi attacks within the kingdom.
Video footage and photographs captured a significant cloud of black smoke rising from the area, with the airport highway and other facilities prominently featured. Flames were briefly seen erupting from what appeared to be fuel tanks.
While the Houthis did not delineate their specific targets in Riyadh, they confirmed an assault had also occurred on an Aramco facility in Yanbu, a key oil export hub along the Red Sea.
The group asserted that the operation was a response to a prior attack on the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.
There has been no immediate acknowledgment from Saudi government representatives regarding the smoke or alerts, nor has there been confirmation of the Houthis’ claims over the attacks.
Saudi civil defence services had alerted residents by phone about the risk of aerial strikes in Riyadh and the nearby city of Al-Kharj, issuing an all-clear by Saturday morning. A journalist in Riyadh’s Olaya district reported hearing loud explosions before the all-clear notice.
Alerts had previously been sounded this year in Riyadh following the onset of the U.S.-Iran war; however, these were the first notifications following the recent Houthi escalation that commenced in July.
The Houthis, controlling much of northern Yemen and its most populous areas, have been conducting attacks against Saudi Arabia since announcing a naval blockade against Riyadh in July, with targeted assaults on Saudi vessels in the Red Sea.
The attacks have affected Saudi cities, energy infrastructure, and shipping routes, presenting renewed threats to global oil supplies and jeopardizing the main Red Sea export route while the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked.
On Friday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed that the group had thwarted unspecified “criminal attempts” in Sanaa, attributing the assaults to Saudi Arabia and promising retaliation.
The Iran-aligned Houthis, who recently captured Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast, assert that the Saudi Air Force has conducted numerous airstrikes against them in recent days.
This conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia represents a new front in the broader conflict that escalated with U.S. and Israeli actions against Iran in late February.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, indicated in an interview that Iran desires an end to the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, acknowledging a mutual interest in a resolution.
Rezaei also revealed that Iran has communicated its conditions for restarting stalled negotiations with the United States, including a call for ceasing hostilities across all fronts.
Discussions are ongoing with mediators from Qatar and Pakistan, as Iran awaits a response from President Donald Trump.
The United Nations Security Council, in a statement released on Friday, condemned the persistent Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia, particularly those affecting civilian and energy infrastructures, which have resulted in casualties among civilians, including women and children.
The Council also denounced the “Houthi military escalation in Yemen.”
