The Riyadh skyline is seen on October 31, 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Justin Setterfield | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
Three Saudi nationals, including a pilot, were killed Thursday in attacks on an international airport in Riyadh by Iran-backed Houthi militants, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said.
In a statement released on Friday, the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said the deaths were caused by two attacks on the capital’s King Khalid International Airport the day before.
The first attack, officials said, targeted airport facilities, while the second targeted a plane belonging to Saudi airline Saudia.
Saudia said in a separate statement on Friday that Captain Hamoud Ali Alkalthami was killed in the strikes.
Yemen’s Houthis, a Tehran-backed militant group, claimed responsibility for the attacks.
In a separate statement, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said Friday it would respond strongly to the militants’ recent attacks, after confirming the destruction of three missile launchers used by the group.
“Houthi attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure will elicit a firm response,” General Turki al-Malki, a coalition spokesman, said in a statement.
Houthi attacks lead to flight cancellations
Hundreds of flights from Saudi Arabia were canceled on Thursday, according to Cirium data. As of Thursday evening, 31 flights scheduled to depart the next day had been canceled, according to the data.
However, GACA said on Friday that airport operations and air traffic had now returned to normal.
The Reuters news agency reported on Thursday that France and Saudi Arabia were exploring ways for the French military to help protect the Yanbu oil terminal on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast.
Thursday’s attacks are the latest in a series of escalations, as the Houthis intensify their campaign against Riyadh.
Last month, smoke was seen near Riyadh’s main airport as the Houthis claimed to have targeted “sensitive” sites in the city.
Saudi Arabia has supported Yemen’s internationally recognized government in the country’s civil war. The civil war has reignited in recent weeks amid the war between the United States and Iran.
On Monday, Turkey and Pakistan agreed they would help Saudi Arabia implement “deterrence measures” and deploy forces to support Yemen’s counterattacks against the Houthis. This came after Yemeni forces retook a key Red Sea port city from the rebel group.
US attacks on Iran postponed
Separately, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States would not launch attacks against Iran before the US mid-term elections. Voters will go to the polls on November 3.
The president also said Thursday that Washington was having “productive discussions” with Tehran, according to Reuters.
“On the Iranian side, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was studying a US proposal and would respond to it in the coming days, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency,” Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid said in a note Friday morning.
“So both sides acknowledged that negotiations were underway, which eased some of the pressure on oil prices leading up to the close. Yet even with that, the negative headlines still prevailed yesterday, and it was clear that investors were pricing in a longer period of disruption for next year.”
Oil prices fell after Trump’s comments on Thursday, with futures extending their decline into Friday morning.
First month Brent Crude Oil Futures were last seen down 1.3% at $102.94 a barrel. WE West Texas Intermediate Futures were last seen down 1% at $90.51 a barrel.
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