Houthi Missiles Hit Riyadh Airport Again, 12 Dead, Dammam Targeted Too, Trump Says U.S. May Join Saudi Strikes

Houthi missiles struck Riyadh’s King Khalid airport again Sunday and Saudi authorities confirmed an attack on Dammam’s King Fahd airport, a day after a strike that killed at least 12 people, including an American; Trump says the U.S. may join Saudi strikes, and casualty figures are still moving.

The Saudis should have joined the Abraham Accords. If not now, when?

A projectile struck a passenger terminal at the international airport in Riyadh on Sunday, a day after a missile hit the same terminal and killed 12 people, the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said. … India’s embassy in Saudi Arabia said one of its citizens died Sunday of injuries sustained in Saturday’s attack, which would bring the toll to 13. … Saudi authorities said the dead in Saturday’s attack included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshi nationals, a Palestinian, a U.S. citizen, an Egyptian, a Jordanian, a Syrian and a Sudanese. (PBS/AP.)

The Saudi-led coalition said the Sunday projectile hit Terminal 4 and caused a fire; Saudi civil aviation authority confirmed the strike on Dammam’s King Fahd International Airport late Sunday, and a witness told Reuters a projectile hit the tarmac beside parked aircraft. The Houthis claimed both attacks. (Reuters.)

Asked whether the U.S. would back Saudi strikes, Trump said, “We may. We’re going to look at it,” and added, “We move very quickly.” Rubio on X: “These reprehensible attacks demonstrate a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life. They must stop now.” (CNBC.)

The Wall Street Jounral reports the deadly attack on Saudi Arabia’s main airport over the weekend exposed a deepening crisis for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The strikes by Iran-backed Houthi militants killed at least 12 people and injured hundreds more.

With threats mounting, the crown prince is shuttling between heavily guarded palaces equipped with bunkers. The violence threatens his ambitions to turn Saudi Arabia into a global tourism and investment hub. Summer Said and Georgi Kantchev examine how Mohammed’s own decisions have contributed to his predicament, with rising defense and infrastructure costs threatening to siphon away funds needed for the economic diversification push.

The attacks are also wreaking havoc on global air travel. Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights, as threats to Saudi airspace jeopardize one of the last two major air corridors connecting Europe and Asia.