Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia today fired missiles and drones at oil and gas facilities in the southwestern corner of Saudi Arabia, causing serious damage.
The Saudi Energy Ministry reported fires, including at the major refinery in Jizan Province and at storage tanks of a power plant in Abha, capital of the neighboring province of Asir.
Saudi officials said Houthi attacks had injured 73 civilians, although it was not clear if all of the victims were hurt today.
Saudi Arabia vowed to retaliate.
The Houthis said they responded to 121 Saudi airstrikes against their forces in Yemen in the past three days.
With tensions rising, the Houthis have staged multiple missile and drone attacks on southwestern Saudi Arabia since 14 July.
Today’s attacks were the most serious yet.
They occurred as the two sides already seemed to be sliding toward a major war.
The Houthis, who are drawn from Yemen’s large Zaidi Shia sect, are allied to Iran but not controlled by it.
Partly in solidarity with Iran’s choking of oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf, the Houthis in July declared a blockade of Saudi ships in the Red Sea and began attacking the kingdom’s oil tankers there.
A return to war with the Houthis is the last thing Saudi Arabia wants.
After the Houthis captured Sanaa and most of northwestern Yemen, the Saudi regime in 2015 launched an aerial bombing campaign against them.
Years of bombing proved ineffective and drew occasional Houthi missile and drone attacks on Riyadh, Jeddah, Dhahran, Dammam, al-Kharj, Yanbu and other Saudi cities far from the Yemeni border.
The Houthis did not target civilian infrastructure and were systematic in striking military and oil-industry facilities.
But civilians occasionally were killed and injured and civilian property damaged, including from debris from interceptions of incoming missiles and drones.
The Houthis frequently staged rocket and drone attacks against military and oil-industry targets in the southwestern provinces of Asir, Jizan and Najran, all of which are relatively close to the Houthi-controlled part of Yemen. The Saudi regime insisted that oil production in that sector was not affected.
Determined to end the disastrous conflict, the Saudi regime reached an official truce with the Houthis in 2022 that held until this summer.
The Houthis also conceivably could resume the blockage of the Red Sea to commercial ships that they staged from October 2023 to October 2025 in solidarity with the Palestinian Islamic terrorist group Hamas, an Iranian client.
The Houthis attacked over 100 commercial vessels, including many that had no connection to Israel. At least nine merchant seamen were killed and four vessels sunk.
For Saudi Arabia, the prospect of the conflict with the Houthis re-erupting is especially unwelcome amid the unsettled war between Iran and the US.
From the start of that war on 28 February until a preliminary ceasefire was implemented on 8 April, US military bases and oil and gas industry infrastructure in Saudi Arabia came under Iranian missile and drone attack.
Saudi Arabia largely was successful in shooting down the missiles and drones.
At least two US military personnel were killed and 29 injured.
Most civilian casualties occurred when a drone struck a residential building in Al-Kharj governorate southeast of Riyadh, killing an Indian national and a Bangladeshi national and wounding 12 other people.
Personnel may undertake important travel to Saudi Arabia but should monitor Iran-related tensions constantly. They and their employers should be cognizant that commercial flights to major Saudi cities could be disrupted if the US-Iran ceasefire breaks down and that employers would bear the responsibility of repatriating stranded personnel.
Jizan, Najran and Asir Provinces should be avoided completely.
Personnel throughout Saudi Arabia should closely monitor the advice of their embassies and local authorities. In the event of an air attack alert, windows should be given wide berth. High-rises would not be ideal places to be during air alerts. Underground parking garages are relatively secure from drone attack but not immune. Stairwells rather than elevators should be used in the event of drone attack or fire.
