Houthis Claim Six Attacks on Saudi Airports and Oil Sites, Including Ras Tanura and Riyadh Airport

Photo: AP via Al Jazeera, file photo

Yemen's Houthi forces have claimed six attacks on Saudi airports and oil sites, including the Ras Tanura refinery, an Aramco site at Abqaiq, and the international airports in Riyadh and Dammam, in a fresh escalation that came days after Iran met Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish officials in Tehran for talks on calming the region.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree said the strikes hit vital commercial and military sites from Saudi Arabia's east and west coasts to Riyadh and the southern region of Najran. He said they were a response to recent Saudi air strikes. There is no independent proof yet that all six targets were hit, and Saudi authorities have not confirmed strikes on the oil sites or airports named in the claim.

What Saudi officials have confirmed is narrower. The Saudi-led coalition said its air defences shot down two ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis towards Riyadh, and Saudi Civil Defence said shrapnel from the interception wounded one Saudi citizen in Riyadh and damaged a house and a vehicle.

Main News Report: Houthi Attacks Saudi Arabia, Six Targets Claimed

Al Jazeera reported the Houthi claim on Thursday, quoting Saree's statement posted on X. The six targets named were the Ras Tanura oil refinery, an Aramco facility in Abqaiq, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, the Rabigh oil refinery, and a Saudi military headquarters in Najran.

Per that statement, Ras Tanura and Rabigh were hit with ballistic missiles, Abqaiq with a missile, Riyadh airport with multiple missiles, Dammam airport with a drone, and the Najran headquarters in a strike the Houthis say caused Saudi casualties. Al Jazeera notes clearly that there was no independent corroboration of the group's claims.

Reuters, carried by The Jerusalem Post, reported the same claim, saying Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Thursday they had attacked three Saudi oil facilities and two international airports, and that there was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities. The Reuters report calls this a developing story, which means details may still change as Saudi officials respond.

Warning alerts for incoming threats had been issued in Riyadh and al-Kharj governorates and in Najran city before the coalition announced the two interceptions, Al Jazeera reported. Earlier on Thursday, Yemen's internationally recognised government asked the UN Security Council to take deterrent and punitive measures to stop Houthi attacks on Aden International Airport.

Background Context

The claim lands in the middle of a war that has already spilled well beyond Yemen. The blog has reported Iran's rejection of Qatar's peace deal ideas and Iran's claim of shooting down a US MQ-1 drone near the Strait of Hormuz, and the Houthi attacks on Saudi soil are part of the same widening regional fight, with the Houthis backed by Iran and Saudi Arabia backing Yemen's recognised government.

Just days ago, Iran hosted a meeting in Tehran with Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, hosted by Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei. The meeting focused on peace and security in the region, and the official Iranian statement said the sides agreed to keep talking to strengthen cooperation. Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry stressed the need to open channels of negotiation to prevent a return to military escalation.

That diplomacy makes the timing of the claim stand out. The Houthis are not a party to the Tehran talks, and their statement shows the gap between talks between states and fighting on the ground. It also follows a pattern of Houthi strikes on Saudi oil sites and airports that has run through this war, including a fire at an Aramco site south of Riyadh earlier in October.

Reactions and Statements

Saudi coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said air defences intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis towards the capital, according to Al Jazeera. Saudi Civil Defence confirmed one citizen wounded by shrapnel in Riyadh, plus damage to a house and a vehicle.

Yemen's internationally recognised government, in its own statement on Thursday, called on the UN Security Council to act against Houthi attacks on Aden airport, a separate front in the same conflict. No statement yet from Saudi Aramco or from the Saudi foreign ministry directly confirming or denying hits on Ras Tanura, Abqaiq or Rabigh has been reported in the two sources used here.

The Houthis, for their part, warned they would keep up retaliatory operations until Saudi Arabia halts its military campaign, according to the claim as reported. That warning, like the claim itself, is the group's own account and has not been independently verified.

Why This News Matters: Houthi Attacks Saudi Arabia

For readers in Pakistan, this matters for three plain reasons. First, Pakistan was at the Tehran table this week through its army chief, so a fresh round of strikes on Saudi soil tests the very talks Pakistan joined. Second, Ras Tanura is the largest refinery in Saudi Arabia, and any real damage to Gulf oil sites can push up fuel prices, which feed straight into petrol and diesel prices at home. Third, a large Pakistani community lives and works in Saudi Arabia, including in Riyadh and Dammam, so attacks claimed on those cities' airports are followed closely by families back home.

• What is claimed: six Houthi strikes on Ras Tanura, Abqaiq, Riyadh airport, Dammam airport, Rabigh refinery and a Najran military headquarters.
• What is confirmed: two ballistic missiles intercepted towards Riyadh, one citizen wounded by shrapnel, a house and a vehicle damaged.
• What is not confirmed: hits on any of the oil sites or airports named, and the Houthi claim of Saudi casualties in Najran.
• Why the timing matters: the claim came days after the Tehran meeting of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye on regional peace.
• What to watch: a Saudi or Aramco statement on the oil sites, and any UN Security Council response to the Aden airport call.

Readers should keep the claim and the confirmed facts apart. A claim by a fighting force is not proof of damage, and the confirmed interception in Riyadh is the only part Saudi officials have so far backed up in public. The blog will update this story if Saudi Arabia or Aramco confirms or denies hits on the named sites.

Future Developments

Three things are worth watching next. First, whether Saudi Arabia or Aramco issues a statement on Ras Tanura, Abqaiq or Rabigh, which would settle whether the oil sites were hit at all. Second, whether the Saudi-led coalition answers with fresh air strikes in Yemen, as it has after past Houthi attacks. Third, whether the Tehran talks track survives this escalation, or whether the fighting pushes the four countries back towards open confrontation.

The wider picture is also moving fast. As covered in the Pentagon's own figure of $47.1 billion for the Iran war so far, the region is already in a costly, multi-front war, and Houthi strikes on Saudi oil and airports add another front to it. The blog will follow any Saudi confirmation, any coalition response, and any new statement from the Tehran talks group as they come.

Sources

• Al Jazeera: Houthi forces claim six attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities
• The Jerusalem Post (Reuters): Houthis claim attacks on Saudi oil refineries, airports in Riyadh, Dammam

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