As Houthi attacks undermine Saudi security, a cautious kingdom recalibrates
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Weekend attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militia have largely cut Saudi Arabia off from the world. The normally cautious kingdom is accepting defensive assistance from its allies as it intensifies strikes against the Houthis.
Mohamed Abdel Ghany/Reuters Mourners attend the funeral of of Azza Ramzy, an Egyptian flight attendant killed during an attack by Yemen-based Houthi militants at King Khalid International Airport, Oct. 13, 2026. Play Pause Share Shared content is always free to recipients. Copy link Copied! Font Size Share this story Copy Link Link copied
Saudi Arabia spent months trying to stay out of the U.S.-Israel-Iran war and convince Washington and Tehran to end the conflict.
But deadly attacks by Yemen-based Houthis at Saudi airports over the weekend are pushing the kingdom’s normally cautious leadership to take more drastic military action to restore public and investor confidence in Saudi security, according to an analyst and palace insiders.
The shift has broad implications for the region, the United States, and the kingdom’s diplomatic efforts to contain the Iran war. And it has left Saudi Arabia ramping up its own conflict in Yemen – with or without requested U.S. assistance. On Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition intensified airstrikes against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, who control Sanaa, the capital.
The Houthi attacks on Saudi airports that killed Muslim pilgrims and shut down air travel to the kingdom represent the first real threats to Saudi civilians’ sense of security in many years, and have led to rising calls for decisive military action in Yemen.
The turning point came on Saturday, when a Houthi cruise missile hit a passenger terminal at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, killing 13 travelers and airport workers and wounding more than 300 others, many of whom remain in critical condition. It was the deadliest militant attack in Saudi Arabia since the Islamic State bombing of a mosque in Qatif in 2015.
A second Houthi attack on Sunday killed an airport worker and forced the airport’s closure until Oct. 17. A dozen regional and international airlines suspended flights to Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi-led military coalition, comprising the Yemeni government and Arab allies including Bahrain, Jordan, and Egypt, said it intercepted more Houthi missiles on Tuesday.
“We are dealing with a terrorist militia,” Saudi Minister of Media Salman al-Dosari said late Monday. “The kingdom’s top priority is ensuring the safety of its citizens and residents.”
UGC/AP In an image taken from video, thick black smoke and flames are seen rising over King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 9, 2026. Yemen-based Houthi militants launched strikes against the busy airport, killing at least 13 people and wounding hundreds of others. Saudi red lines While Saudi Arabia previously absorbed attacks against its oil infrastructure, the weekend strikes crossed what observers say were red lines: the strikes killed citizens and foreigners, shuttered airports, and threatened Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to attract foreign investment in the country’s non-oil economy.
The epicenter of his ambitious economic transformation is Riyadh, a metropolitan area of 8.5 million people that is now isolated and vulnerable to Houthi strikes.
“The attacks have narrowed the space Saudi Arabia had maintained between regional conflict and everyday life,” says Hesham Alghannam, a Saudi political analyst and Carnegie Middle East scholar based in Riyadh. With the attacks leaving the Saudi capital’s infrastructure “visibly exposed, protecting public confidence has become as strategically important as protecting territory,” he adds.
Arabic social media this week was awash with Saudi citizens clamoring for a decisive defeat of the Houthis. Saudi Arabia has been embroiled in an on-again, off-again war with the Houthis in neighboring Yemen since the militants overthrew a Saudi-aligned, internationally recognized government in 2014 and captured one-third of Yemen’s territory.
Amplifying Saudi public and official anger is the fact that the majority of those killed Saturday were Muslim pilgrims on their way to Mecca. Millions of Muslims from across the world make the pilgrimage year-round, a point of pride for Saudis and a revenue stream for the country’s economy.
“Civilian deaths at Riyadh’s airport and disruption to pilgrimage travel turn an abstract threat into a personal one, which definitely widens acceptance of decisive retaliation,” says Mr. Alghannam. Without public polling, however, he says it’s not clear whether the Saudi public supports “stronger deterrence” or “prolonged war.”
The attack shattered a sense of safety in the kingdom of 35 million people.
While Iranian and Iraqi militia missiles and drones closed airspaces and disrupted life in neighboring Gulf states, the Saudi government had been able to spare its population the worst of the Iran war through diplomacy with Iran and U.S.-assisted air-defense systems.
Until Saturday, daily life had continued mostly unaffected.
Saudi Arabia has gone to great lengths to depict its battle as against the Houthis, not their powerful backer, Iran. On Sunday, the Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers…
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