Drone threats, conflict with Houthis add to regional strain as energy prices surge
A late-night attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, killed two people and injured eight others, the civil aviation authority said on Thursday.
The attack came as ground fighting in Yemen has intensified, and the internationally recognized Yemeni government has warned civilians in Houthi-controlled areas that gatherings are legitimate military targets.
READ MORE: Source: Houthis intensify attacks on airport, oil terminal in Hadramout
Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said the number of fatalities from the airport incident that took place on Wednesday evening has risen to two after an additional fatality was confirmed. The dead comprised a Saudi citizen and one Indian resident, while eight others were injured.
The Saudi Energy Ministry, meanwhile, said in a statement late on Wednesday that air defenses intercepted a drone attempting to target a processing facility at state oil company Aramco's Shaybah oilfield in the Eastern Province earlier in the day. It said the strike killed two people, a Filipino and a Nepali.
In a post on X on Thursday, Saudiled coalition spokesman Turki Al-Malki said there was interception and destruction of a drone in the Riyadh region.
He also reported, in a series of posts on Wednesday, that the coalition had intercepted and destroyed seven drones launched toward various parts of Saudi Arabia, including four over Medina and the Eastern Province.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea denied launching any attacks toward Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, rejecting the coalition's claim that drones had been intercepted over Medina as "false", Xinhua News Agency reported.
Meanwhile, Sarea said Saudi warplanes had carried out 62 airstrikes over the past 24 hours targeting Sanaa and the provinces of Marib, Saada, Lahj and Taiz in Yemen.
He claimed civilian casualties, including women and children, but did not provide figures, according to Xinhua. The claims could not be independently verified.
The ongoing Saudi-Houthi conflict has prompted the United States to issue an order for the departure of nonessential US embassy personnel and their family members from Saudi Arabia.
Tommy Pigott, a spokesman for the US Department of State, confirmed the order on X, adding that the Houthis "have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions".
Hormuz standoff
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Washington is not negotiating with Tehran amid the disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
"I think we're not negotiating," Trump told reporters after returning from a rally in South Carolina.
"We are going to have something one way or the other that'll happen fairly soon," he said, adding that "most people seem to think it's after the election". He was referring to the US midterm elections scheduled for early next month.
In Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened to invade any country that attacks the nation, as its forces shift to an "offensive and asymmetrical" defense doctrine, Al Jazeera reported.
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The IRGC also said four violating vessels transferring oil cargo ship-to-ship in the northern Persian Gulf were hit simultaneously and are burning, the Mehr News Agency reported on Thursday.
Three other violating vessels struck mines west of the Strait of Hormuz overnight and were stopped after sustaining damage and fire, the report said.
Iran's ambassador and charge d'affaires to the United Nations, Gholamhossein Darzi, said in a letter to the UN that the US naval blockade of Iran is a flagrant violation of international law and the UN Charter.
The ongoing conflicts have pushed Brent crude futures up 3.08 percent to $112.55 a barrel on Thursday, the highest since May 18.
Contact the writers at jan@chinadailyapac.com
