Saudi Arabia extended the closure of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Sunday, a day after a missile attack killed 12 people and wounded more than 300 in a significant escalation of the war between the kingdom and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Flightradar24 data indicated the suspension, initially ordered Saturday, would remain in effect until at least 9 p.m. local time Sunday.
The Saudi-led coalition blamed the Houthis for the Saturday afternoon strike, the deadliest in a Gulf Arab state since the onset of the broader regional conflict. The attack targeted the domestic terminals 3 and 4, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Victims included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshi nationals, and one person each from Palestine, the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Sudan. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the death of an American citizen and condemned the assault. Egyptian state media identified one victim as Azza Ramzy, a 28-year-old flight attendant for Flynas.
The strike rattled global oil markets, given Saudi Arabia’s status as the world’s top crude exporter. In the immediate aftermath, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was evaluating whether American forces would join Saudi retaliatory strikes against the rebels. “We may. We’re going to look at it,” Trump told reporters, adding he planned to speak with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The coalition labeled the attack a “fully-fledged war crime,” noting the airport houses no military facilities, and vowed a firm response. The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for this specific strike, though they claimed earlier attacks on the same facility this week that killed three Saudis. On Saturday, the rebels accused Saudi Arabia of striking Sanaa International Airport in the Houthi-held Yemeni capital.
The surge in violence follows a major Saudi-led offensive against the Houthis launched last week. Until recently, the rebels had remained largely on the sidelines of the wider regional confrontation; analysts now view them as a primary conduit for Iranian pressure on a key U.S. ally. The conflict, which began in 2015 when Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen’s civil war, had seen relative calm under a 2022 ceasefire. That truce collapsed in July after the Houthis resumed attacks, citing a Saudi strike on Sanaa airport as an Iranian plane attempted to land.
Fighting has since intensified, with the coalition providing air support for Yemeni government forces seeking to reverse Houthi gains along the Red Sea coast—gains that threaten a vital shipping corridor alternative to the Strait of Hormuz. Regional officials report Saudi missile interceptor stocks are running low, prompting requests for air defense assistance from France, Britain, Pakistan, and Egypt.
The Houthis have warned global airlines against operating in Saudi airspace, which they describe as a theater of military operations. Prior to Saturday’s attack, carriers including Air India, FlyDubai, Lufthansa Group, and Pakistan International Airlines had already suspended flights to Riyadh and other Saudi airports for varying periods. Meanwhile, the Houthi-run Health Ministry in Sanaa reported Sunday that 91 Yemenis had been killed and 168 injured by coalition strikes over the past five weeks, stating 60% of the casualties were women and children.
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