Energy agency agrees to accelerate release as oil flow and vessel traffic through Hormuz face significant drop

Amid a broadening multifront crisis roiling the Middle East, Yemen's Houthi militia claimed a ballistic missile struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday, a day after Saudi authorities confirmed attacks on two main airports had killed three people and wounded dozens.

Flight tracking website Flightradar24 reported that 58 departures, or 15 percent of the day's scheduled services, were delayed at the airport as of Thursday morning, while 11 flights, or 3 percent, were listed as canceled.

The fresh strike came as the kingdom was pulled deeper into the latest front in the broader regional conflict. In a statement, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree issued a "final" warning to global airlines to stop operating flights in Saudi airspace, saying it had become "a theater for our military operations".

READ MORE: Saudi-led coalition, Houthis trade strikes as Yemen conflict escalates

On Wednesday, the Saudi General Authority for Civil Aviation said a Moroccan and an Algerian national were killed at Abha airport and a Sudanese national was killed at the airport in Riyadh, with 36 people wounded in the attacks.

The twin strikes drew condemnation from the Muslim World League and regional states including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait. They called for an immediate halt to attacks targeting civilians and civilian and economic infrastructure.

Saudi Arabia has led a coalition fighting the Houthis since 2015, and is now trying to roll back the group's latest advance after the civil war reignited in July. The coalition said on Wednesday that it had launched a comprehensive operation, destroying 82 Houthi military targets across several provinces, in response to attacks on civilians and civilian sites in Saudi Arabia.

The Yemeni group has captured swaths of coastal land that grant it enhanced surveillance capabilities as it pursues a blockade of Saudi-linked shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key waterway that handles 12 percent of global trade transits.

"The Houthis believe that they can maximize Saudi economic costs and compel Saudi Arabia to surrender to Houthi demands by striking civilian infrastructure," the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, wrote in a recent analysis.

Due to the ongoing security situation, the United States reminded all citizens to exercise heightened vigilance in Saudi Arabia, warning against any travel within 30 kilometers of the Yemeni border.

Posing a threat

New cagelike fences have been erected around fuel tanks and other equipment of the Saudi staterun Aramco oil company near the capital's airport. The kingdom, the world's leading oil exporter, has seen oil and military assets targeted in recent days, posing a threat to crucial shipping alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz.

On Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a peace deal with the US "is not out of reach" during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Tehran is fully prepared to reach a balanced and fair agreement that ensures lasting peace and security in the region," he said.

With the monthslong conflict locked in a stalemate, Putin said Moscow was ready to help efforts to mediate the conflict, the Fars News Agency reported.

Iran's Tasnim News Agency reported on Wednesday a 60 percent decrease in oil passing through Hormuz, saying that the flow of crude oil has faced a significant drop in the last two days, reaching around 3.8 million barrels per day. Vessel traffic through the strait also fell to its lowest point in more than two months.

Oil prices have been rising on persistent worries about supply disruptions in the Middle East, and Brent crude futures rose 2.28 percent to $102.28 a barrel on Thursday morning.

ALSO READ: Middle East conflict flares on more fronts

The International Energy Agency members agreed on Wednesday to accelerate the release of 400-million-barrel oil stocks and to prioritize diesel supplies under a plan launched in March, as governments seek to tackle record fuel prices and supply disruptions.

In a statement, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said about 325 million barrels of oil have already been released, adding that the release of all the oil stocks pledged but not yet deployed would bring about 100 million barrels to market.

In a parallel development, international flights resumed on Thursday at Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport following a suspension during the conflict. According to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, the flight, operated by Iraqi Airways, landed in the morning after departing from Iraq's Najaf airport. The service will operate in both directions.

Agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at cuihaipei@chinadaily.com.cn