OMM Newsroom
Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthis said on Monday that they had targeted pumping stations on Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted a ballistic missile heading toward the capital, AnewZ reported.
The coalition said it had destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in Sanaa, including the launcher used to fire the missile aimed at Riyadh.
Later on Monday, the coalition announced the launch of a large-scale military operation in Yemen. Targets included five tunnels used to store ballistic missiles, four more launchers, a missile depot, supply routes, fighters and military equipment positioned along the front line.
Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said troops would continue taking “preventive operational measures” to protect civilians.
Claims of attacks on airport and oil infrastructure
The latest statements came after a deadly attack on King Khalid International Airport earlier this month, for which the Houthis claimed responsibility. The strike killed 13 people, making it the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade. The airport’s two terminals reopened only on Sunday.
Threats to Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure have heightened concerns about global energy supplies. The Strait of Hormuz is largely closed because of the war.
The 1,200-kilometre East-West pipeline has become an important alternative route for Middle Eastern oil exports. Saudi Arabia temporarily suspended its operation as a precaution after a drone attack in September. Riyadh and Baghdad said the attack was launched from Iraq.
The Houthis also claimed on Saturday that they had struck the pipeline and its pumping stations, an Aramco facility in Yanbu and the Rabigh refinery. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed the claims.
Fighting threatens key maritime routes
Riyadh has intensified its airstrikes after the Houthis seized strategic areas on Yemen’s Red Sea coast last month and advanced toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is an important shipping route for Gulf oil producers and provides access to the Red Sea on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula. The renewed fighting has effectively ended a UN-mediated ceasefire that had largely held since 2022.
Saudi Arabia joined Yemen’s civil war in 2015, leading a military coalition a year after the Houthis captured Sanaa.
Tensions weigh on financial markets
The widening conflict has unsettled financial markets. Saudi Arabia’s benchmark stock index fell 2.7% on October 25, its sharpest one-day decline in 18 months.
Many other Gulf markets also ended trading lower as investors assessed the risk of military escalation and disruption to regional shipping.
Oil prices edged down on Monday despite continuing supply concerns. The international crude benchmark fell about 2% to roughly $114 a barrel, while the US crude benchmark slipped to just above $100.
Traders cited signs that prices had risen too far after Friday’s rally, which had taken oil to its highest level since April.
Nevertheless, crude prices are up about 90% this year, as repeated attacks on Saudi Arabia continue to worry investors.
Friday’s rally was partly driven by reports that the United States and Israel could be preparing to strike Iran after the US midterm elections in early November. Elections are also due to be held in Israel this week.
Talks with Iran expected
Amid rising tensions, senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan, members of the Mecca Pact, are expected to meet Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday.
The talks are expected to address regional coordination, according to two people familiar with the plans.
If held, the meeting would be the first high-level engagement between Iran and all three countries since the Houthis intensified attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has reiterated that the rules governing the Strait of Hormuz and shipping routes will not return to their previous state.
