Saudi Arabia faces new missile, drone strikes after deadly Houthi airport attacks

Saudi Arabia faced a series of fresh missile and drone strikes on Monday following a deadly weekend strike on its main airports, which has kept the skies over the country relatively clear of air travel.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired a new wave of drone and cruise missiles, according to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, with several attacks intercepted as they aimed at the kingdom’s key oil and gas facilities.

The ongoing attacks have forced Saudi authorities to suspend operations at the King Khalid International Airport until Oct. 17, with the kingdom’s second-largest air hub still recovering after weekend strikes killed 14 people and left more than 300 others wounded.

The attack marked an unprecedented assault on Saudi Arabia’s aviation facilities, with cancellations across all of the kingdom’s airports reaching 46% on Monday, according to the Cirium aviation analytics firm.

The Federal Aviation Administration also issued a warning to all US airlines to exercise caution flying to or over parts of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman slammed the ongoing attacks from the Houthis and vowed to retaliate after the strikes disrupted this week’s World Petroleum Congress in Riyadh.

“The events of recent weeks are serious. Our response must be equally serious,” the prince said.

“We, as Saudis, are fearless, combatant and determined people,” he added. “We shall prove it to the world that whatever we are going through, we will overcome it.”

The developments in Saudi Arabia and threat to more of the world’s oil supply led the United Arab Emirates to call for a revival of joint Gulf action on security and defense.

“It has become clear that we are all targeted, and that our security is indivisible,” Anwar Gargash, senior adviser to the UAE president, said of the latest instability in the region.

“There is a pressing need to revive joint Gulf action, particularly in its security and defense aspects, and to strengthen the collective security framework,” he added.

“Gulf security is a shared responsibility that brooks no leniency or delay.” President Trump also suggested over the weekend that the US could join Saudi Arabia in firing retaliatory attacks on the Houthis.

Saudi Arabia now walks the tightrope of re-entering Yemen’s long and bloody civil war, which had been frozen following a cease-fire in 2022 before it re-ignited over the war in Iran.