Saudi Arabia faces new level of peril in Houthi attacks, amid wider Iran war

Saudi Arabia faces new level of peril in Houthi attacks, amid wider Iran war

Washington Post-Oct10th2026

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Smoke billowed above the airport and explosions sounded in Saudi Arabia’s capital this week, as the Persian Gulf nation faced some of the biggest attacks it had seen in years by Iranian-backed Houthi militants.

While the U.S. push for a deal to end its war with Iran remains stalled, the escalating conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia is further rattling energy markets and threatening to draw in still more countries, in a region already beset by overlapping wars.

Ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in November, the expansion of the violence represents a challenge to the Trump administration, which “already has enough putting pressure on oil prices,” said April Longley Alley, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, a think tank.

“The Trump administration wanted to limit the conflict as much as possible, and to keep the lid on it,” she said. “But the lid is popping off already.”

The Houthis, who receive training and support from Iran, and Yemen’s government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, were embroiled for years in an active civil war that left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead. Saudi Arabia, focused on improving its international perception, agreed to a 2022 truce that left the Houthis in control of much of Yemen’s north and the Saudi-backed government in control of the south.

But the Houthis have grown frustrated in recent years by what they say is a Saudi blockade on their territory.

Last month, the Houthis launched a stunning ground offensive to take control of Yemen’s western Red Sea coast along the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital waterway for global shipping, including as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthi offensive prompted a change in Saudi policy, Prince Turki al-Faisal, the former Saudi intelligence chief, said in an interview with Arab News last week.

“Restraint has always been a hallmark of Saudi policy and action, historically, from the days of King Abdulaziz,” he said. “That restraint is no longer operable.”

Days later, the Saudi Arabian-backed Yemeni forces went on the counteroffensive, announcing on Sunday an operation to oust the Houthis from Yemen, which began with barrages of airstrikes. The Houthis have in return struck airports and energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, including refineries.

As Iran steps up attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, reducing the amount of oil getting out, Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure and continued efforts to blockade Saudi ports — some of which had been used as alternatives to Hormuz — are increasingly important, Alley

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