What the Houthi Strikes on Riyadh Airport Mean for Flights, Oil and the U.S.

Saudi Arabia has suspended all flights to and from its main international airport in Riyadh until next Saturday after a new round of Houthi missile attacks, The Guardian reported. Saudi authorities say Houthi strikes on the kingdom's airports have killed at least 20 people in the past week, according to NPR.

The attacks are the deadliest on a Gulf Arab state since the war with Iran began, NPR said, and they have raised questions about whether the United States will be drawn directly into another regional conflict.

What this means for travelers, pilgrims and energy markets

Riyadh is landlocked, NPR's Gulf correspondent Aya Batrawy noted, so flying is the fastest way in. With the airport closed, that link is cut. Gulf Air and Bahrain Air had already said they were canceling flights until next Saturday, The Guardian reported. Workers in the capital's financial district were told to work from home, according to The Independent, and The Guardian said schoolchildren were also advised to study from home.

The deadliest strike came Saturday, when a missile hit a passenger terminal. Saudi authorities say 13 people of various nationalities were killed, including a U.S. citizen, and more than 300 were wounded. NPR said many of those in the terminal were Muslim pilgrims headed to Mecca. The Houthis have warned airlines that all Saudi airports except those in Mecca and Medina are unsafe, The Independent reported.

Oil is also at stake. The Houthis have hit Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea and are blocking Saudi shipments by that route, according to NPR. Iran, meanwhile, has been trying to choke off the Strait of Hormuz, where about one-fifth of the world's oil flowed before the U.S.-Iran war began, The Independent reported. Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser told an energy conference in Riyadh that no country can protect its supplies alone. He said that "markets can diversify suppliers. They cannot diversify geography."

Why Saudi air defenses are under review

Saudi Arabia has opened an inquiry into how missiles and drones got through, The Independent reported. Two regional officials told the outlet that preliminary findings suggest the Houthis first sent drones to get around defenses, then fired cruise and ballistic missiles at King Khalid International Airport. One official said investigators are asking why detection networks did not give timely warning, given that the projectiles traveled more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

The Guardian reported that the Houthis have also targeted the city of Khamis Mushait and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, and that interceptor missiles are stretched thin across a wide area. On Monday, the Saudi-led coalition said it destroyed two Houthi ballistic missiles aimed at Riyadh, according to The Independent.

How the fighting reached this point

Saudi Arabia has fought the Iran-backed Houthis since 2015 in an effort to restore Yemen's government, NPR said. Last month the Houthis pushed government forces out of territory along the Red Sea. The Saudis answered a week ago with an offensive using around a hundred fighter jets and Yemeni government ground troops. NPR said the Houthis still hold the port city of Mokha and have encircled Taiz.

The Houthis say the airport attacks respond to more than 2,000 Saudi airstrikes that they say have killed women and children. The Houthi-run health ministry said 107 Yemenis have been killed by the Saudi-led coalition since Sept. 3, with 278 injured and over 60% of casualties women and children, according to The Independent. That figure comes from a Houthi-controlled ministry and has not been independently confirmed in the sources.

Why Washington is weighing its options

NPR said Saudi Arabia has asked the U.S. for refueling support for its fighter jets, and President Donald Trump has not agreed. The U.S. is sharing intelligence, identifying targets and helping plan the Saudi offensive, but has not carried out strikes, The Independent reported. Trump told reporters Saturday that he was looking at possible U.S. attacks on the Houthis.

France, the U.K., Turkey and Pakistan have sent military help to the Saudis, NPR said. The Independent noted that U.S. involvement could prompt the Houthis to try to halt shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea, further restricting Gulf oil exports. It also pointed to the political backdrop: midterm elections are weeks away, and persistent inflation and high gas prices tied to the Iran conflict have driven widespread American disapproval of that war.

What happens next

The UN Security Council is expected to meet Tuesday in New York to debate a resolution calling the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization, The Guardian reported. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, spoke with his Saudi counterpart on Sunday about Iran acting as a mediator. Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti claimed Saudi Arabia accepted mediation and proposed first a one-month truce, then a two-week truce, and that the Houthis rejected both. The Saudi side has not been quoted on that account in the sources.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said Monday it was seriously concerned and ready to help facilitate talks, according to The Independent. Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the United Arab Emirates' rulers, called for joint Gulf action, saying all Gulf states are targeted.

Sources: NPR, The Guardian, The Independent