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Saudis Vow Retaliation After Deadly Airport Strike As Houthi Threat Puts Gulf On Edge

Tyler Durden's Photo
by Tyler Durden
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Iran-backed Houthi rebels have not officially claimed responsibility for Saturday's missile attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, which killed 12 people and wounded more than 300. The mass-casualty missile strike raises new questions about the effectiveness of Saudi Arabia's Western-supplied air and missile defenses, including potential gaps in detection, interception, and/or coverage. It also raises the risk of a wider Gulf conflict. 

Al Jazeera correspondent Yousef Mawry, reporting from Sanaa, wrote early Sunday that the Saudis face a very uncomfortable reality: repeated airstrikes across Yemen have yet to eliminate the Houthis' ability to launch missiles and one-way attack drones toward the kingdom.

"Although Saudi Arabia has said it will retaliate, let's not forget that it's carried out many air strikes across Yemen, and the Yemeni group is still able to launch ballistic missiles and drones towards Saudi Arabia," Mawry wrote.

The missile attack on the international airport late Saturday was the kingdom's deadliest incident since the Iran war began. The Saudi-led coalition blamed Yemen's Houthi rebels, describing the attack as a war crime.

Asked by reporters on Saturday whether the US military would join the Saudi attacks on the Houthis, President Trump responded: "We may. We're going to look at it."

Bloomberg reported that the attack disrupted travel ahead of the World Petroleum Congress, scheduled to begin today and last through next Thursday. Airport operations were temporarily suspended, with the flight monitor website Flightradar24 showing roughly 85% of flights canceled.

Al Jazeera quoted Dania Thafer, executive director of the Gulf International Forum, who said the Saudis will likely retaliate forcefully against the Houthis.

Gulf states want to contain the confrontation rather than let it spread across multiple fronts, Thafer told the outlet.

"I think in this situation, compartmentalizing the Houthi issue is in their interest rather than causing further escalation from many fronts," Thafer said.

Thafer continued, "I still think that the Saudis probably want de-escalation. They don't want long-term escalation, but the Houthis are making it very difficult by not only being a threat to Saudi national security but also a threat to international maritime security. So this battle is much bigger than just a tit-for-tat."

International leaders have released statements condemning the attack (via Al Jazeera):

  • The Iraqi prime minister's spokesman, Sabah al-Numan, condemned the attack, warning that it endangered "regional security and stability" and calling for an end to hostilities.
  • European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the attack a "dangerous escalation" by Iranian proxies that pushes the region into a spiral of violence that threatens global transport and energy networks.
  • EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas denounced the strike as an "appalling act of terror" against civilian infrastructure.
  • UK Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said the "completely contemptible" attack highlighted a dangerous pattern of Houthi targeting of civilian sites in Saudi Arabia.
  • German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also condemned the attack as a "terrorist act" against civil aviation and offered sincere condolences to the families of the victims.

Yasmeen al-Eryani, the executive director for knowledge production at the Sanaa Center, told the outlet that the Houthis are trying to put "maximum pressure" on Saudi Arabia. This comes as the US midterms are less than one month away. 

"But they're also mobilizing the internal front lines in a really major way, moving even away from the west coast battle into Taiz and more densely populated areas," al-Eryani said.

"We could see further mobilization; they have very high momentum. They will probably continue to capitalize on that momentum, internally and cross-border attacks and by doing this, operationalizing a unification of arenas putting pressure across the region, economically, politically and so on," she said.

She added that the Houthis were "provoking" Saudi Arabia, the US and regional states, which could potentially join the conflict.

There are unofficial reports that the Saudis have begun striking multiple Houthi targets in Yemen.

In markets, Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index fell as much as 1%, with most of its constituents in negative territory, including Saudi National Bank and Saudi Aramco.

The attacks risk pushing the Gulf region into a more dangerous phase as US-allied Gulf governments are waking up to the fact that Iran's proxy network is becoming a shared threat to national security, energy infrastructure, and maritime trade.

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