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A Houthi official warned Monday that the United States would face a “painful response” if it entered the war in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has reportedly requested Washington’s help as it faces repeated attacks by the group.
Yemen’s civil war, in which a Saudi-led military coalition supports the government against the Iran-backed Houthis, reignited in July amid a wider regional conflict that has roiled energy markets and deepened instability across the Middle East.
The Houthis quickly began targeting Saudi oil facilities, tankers and transport hubs, including a series of deadly strikes on Riyadh’s airport.
Blasts were heard over the Saudi capital again Monday night, with the Saudi-led coalition saying it had intercepted a Houthi missile and the group saying it had again targeted the airport.
The coalition later said it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched toward Khamis Mushait, a city in southern Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen.
In a statement on X, the coalition said it had “intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards Khamis Mushait,” where a Saudi military base has previously come under attack.
Following an attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Saturday that killed 13 people, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was considering joining Saudi strikes against the Houthis after reportedly rebuffing previous Saudi requests for help.
“The Houthis are misbehaving very badly. They’re misbehaving very badly. No good,” Trump said Monday.
“If the U.S. becomes involved in the aggression against Yemen, we will not deliberate over the decision to respond, rather, there will be a swift and painful response targeting the U.S. and all its interests in the region,” Houthi political bureau member Mohammed Al Bukhaiti told AFP.
He also warned “all employees and workers at Saudi oil facilities and airports to stay away from these sites, as they have become legitimate targets.”
Saturday’s strike on King Khalid International Airport was the deadliest attack on Saudi soil in more than a decade and wounded hundreds.
Trump called the attack “not acceptable” and said he would speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
He told reporters that the United States was “going to look at” the possibility of joining Saudi strikes.
Operations at Riyadh’s main airport remained suspended Monday.
Bukhaiti said the purpose of the campaign against Saudi targets was to send a message to the crown prince “that he can no longer wage aggression against Yemen from a safe position.”
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told a conference in Riyadh on Monday that recent events had “tested our infrastructure, our institutions, our people, and our resilience.”
“The events of recent weeks are serious, our response must be equally serious,” he said.
CCTV footage of Saturday’s attack released by Saudi authorities showed Muslim pilgrims in religious attire waiting in departure lounges before a sudden blast tore through the building and brought down flaming debris.
The atmosphere in Riyadh remained tense Monday, as state broadcaster Al Ekhbariya said the military coalition was responding to drone and missile threats.
In the evening, mobile phones received a loud government alert warning of a “hostile aerial threat” before the interception was announced.
The alert delayed the kickoff of a football match between Uzbekistan’s Neftchi Fergana and Saudi team Al Nassr, home to Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was the first use of the phone alert system in Riyadh in weeks, with no official reason given for the lack of messaging during recent attacks targeting the capital.
The Houthis said they had also targeted the Khamis Mushait base in southern Saudi Arabia with a drone.
The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia said U.S. government employees must obtain authorization before using any airport in the kingdom and urged U.S. citizens to “take extreme caution” if they choose to do so.
The embassy also said “American citizens have been detained for taking photos of recent events” in Saudi Arabia.
Etihad Airways, the UAE’s national carrier, said Monday that it was canceling all flights to and from Riyadh until next week and had also suspended flights to Dammam and Jeddah.
Bahrain’s national carrier Gulf Air said it was canceling all Riyadh flights until Saturday.
U.S. carrier Delta said it would delay the launch of direct flights from Atlanta to Riyadh, which had been scheduled for Oct. 23.
Despite major spending on military hardware, Houthi attacks on oil, military and transport facilities across Saudi Arabia are stretching the kingdom’s defenses.
Thomas Juneau, a security analyst at the University of Ottawa, said that despite some success, “Saudi Arabia is so large that it’s simply impossible for them to consistently defend themselves.”
Riyadh leads an international coalition that has supported Yemen’s government militarily since 2015, including by seeking to control Yemeni airspace and the airport in the Houthi-held capital, Sanaa.
Juneau said the Houthis now “want to do to Saudi Arabia what Saudi Arabia does to them.”
The long-running Yemeni civil war has created a severe humanitarian crisis in the impoverished country.
U.N. rights chief Volker Turk said he was “appalled by the repeated attacks” on Saudi Arabia but urged both sides to step back.
“Continued fighting will only unleash further misery with no end in sight,” he said.
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