Houthis hit Riyadh's main airport again

Saudi Arabia's King Khalid International Airport was again attacked on Sunday, killing a Pakistani national just a day after a deadly strike by Yemen's Houthi militant group killed a dozen people there. The latest attack prompted the nation's General Authority of Civil Aviation, or GACA, to extend the airport's closure.

In its latest update on X on Monday, GACA announced an extension of the suspension of operations at the airport in Riyadh while it completes the necessary procedures to verify the safety and operational readiness of the airport's facilities. It did not say when the operations would resume.

GACA had also reported that King Fahd International Airport, which is near Dammam in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, was attacked on the evening of Sunday, with damage assessments and safety inspections of the airport facilities underway.

Operations at Riyadh's international airport were halted after an earlier attack killed 12 people and injured 309 others on Saturday.

"I am deeply saddened to learn that six Pakistani nationals were injured as a result of Houthis' attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. I pray for their speedy recovery," Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said of the incident in a post on X on Sunday.

The Saudi-led coalition intercepted and destroyed a drone and a ballistic missile targeting Saudi Arabia, according to coalition spokesman Turki Al-Malki.

The Houthi militants claimed they had carried out four missile and drone operations against airports and energy facilities across Saudi Arabia over the past 24 hours, Xinhua News reported.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the operations targeted King Khalid International Airport, King Fahd International Airport, and two facilities operated by Saudi energy giant Aramco.

Saree had earlier warned that Saudi airports and airspace, except for the airports in the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina, remained "exposed to targeting" and constituted an area of operations for the group's forces.

Saree also claimed Saudi warplanes had carried out 124 strikes over the previous 24 hours targeting Sanaa, Yemen's Houthi-held capital, and the provinces of Taiz, Marib, Al-Jawf, Hajjah, Hodeidah and Saada.

Houthi-run al-Masirah TV also reported earlier on Sunday that a Saudi airstrike hit Sanaa International Airport, with no immediate information on casualties or damage at the airport.

Calling for action

The United Arab Emirates' presidential adviser Anwar Gargash urged the revival of joint Gulf action in a post on X on Monday.

Since the onset of the aggression against the Gulf states, he noted, "stemming from the aggressor's misguided assessment that they were the weakest link in a war we sought to avoid", it has become clear that "we are all targeted, and that our security is indivisible".

Late on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud held a phone call to discuss the recent escalation in the region and efforts being made to address it, according to a Saudi Foreign Ministry statement.

According to the Iranian side, Araghchi expressed concern about the escalation of tensions and emphasized that insisting on a military approach and ignoring a political solution would complicate the current situation.

Araghchi also said Iran was ready to provide any assistance to help start dialogue between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis and to help achieve a political solution.

Meanwhile, Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei said the US has accepted some of Tehran's seven conditions for a deal but also said it was "inadequate". Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian invited Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tariq to visit Tehran during a phone call on Sunday, expressing hope that the two sides would hold an in-person meeting in the near future.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said at a news briefing on Monday that security will not return to the Strait of Hormuz "as long as the United States persists in its blockade and military aggression", Iran's Mehr News Agency reported.