Houthis target Aramco headquarters; officials report damage, coalition says missile intercepted

Yemen's Houthis said they fired a ballistic missile at Dhahran, in eastern Saudi Arabia, where state oil company Aramco has its headquarters. Two regional officials told AP, speaking anonymously, that the overnight strike hit the offices of senior Aramco executives, damaged the top three floors of the executive building and struck the chief executive's office. The officials reported no casualties. The Saudi-led coalition gave a different account of that missile: it said it intercepted a ballistic missile aimed at Dhahran. The AP report, dated October 14, was republished by Nagaland Post the next day.

Claims and responses

The Houthis described their attacks as retaliation for what they called Saudi aggression against Sanaa and other areas, according to AP. The coalition said it also intercepted cruise and ballistic missiles and drones aimed at Riyadh, and a cruise missile aimed at Al-Kharj. Saudi Civil Defence said debris from two intercepted Houthi ballistic missiles fell on residential areas in Riyadh, injuring four people, one of them a child, and damaging 15 homes (AP).

The Houthi-run Health Ministry said two people were killed and two wounded in an airstrike on the Ras Isa port area in Hodeida that hit a state oil company facility, and blamed Saudi Arabia, AP reports. The ministry also reported two more deaths in attacks in Yemen on Tuesday and blamed the Saudis. These figures come from the Houthi side and are not independently verified in the reports read.

Saudi accusation against Iran

At a virtual briefing on October 15, Rayed Krimly, a Saudi deputy foreign minister for public diplomacy, said Iran "continues to arm, train and support" the Houthis and that the latest escalation is encouraged by Tehran, Dawn reports. He added that Saudi Arabia keeps direct communications with Iran but that Iran did not seem yet able to provide concessions for a solution. AP, republished by Kashmir Observer, says Iran denies arming the Houthis. Reuters, republished by Ada Derana, reported earlier that Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said Tehran is ready to help facilitate dialogue between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.

Wider picture

Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said the Houthis made 20 attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh in October, killing 17 people and wounding 333, and that the coalition destroyed 127 weapons storage sites and launch platforms in Yemen (Dawn). AP's report on the Aramco strike gave a toll of at least 18 dead and more than 300 injured at the Riyadh airport over the previous week, and its October 17 report says at least 19 people have been killed in the attacks.

AP quotes regional officials as saying Saudi Arabia is running low on interceptors. It also says a Houthi political bureau member, Mohamed al-Bukhaiti, said Oman tried to restart negotiations and that Russia and China made approaches through Iran, and that the Houthis want a comprehensive end to the war and the blockade rather than a temporary ceasefire. AP reports that President Donald Trump is evaluating whether the US should join Saudi strikes on the Houthis. Reuters reported that Trump said so on Saturday, October 10, with no sign of US action yet.