On Saturday, President Donald Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn that the United States is reviewing the possibility of participating in Saudi Arabia’s retaliatory air campaign against the Iran-backed Houthi militia. The comment came just after a fresh missile impact at King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) in Riyadh, which left 12 dead and a reported 300 plus injured.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) confirmed the casualty figures and said the blast struck the complex that houses Terminals 3 and 4, the second-busiest hub in the Kingdom. The attack forced a near-total shutdown of civilian flights in and out of Riyadh, with FlightAware logging roughly 400 cancellations by 11 p.m. local time.
Recent wave of airport attacks
Saturday’s strike follows a string of assaults that began early in the week after Yemen’s Saudi-backed government launched a major offensive on October 4. On Tuesday, an unknown weapon hit Abha International Airport, killing two women—one Algerian and one Moroccan. A separate attack on KKIA later that day claimed the life of a Sudanese passenger. Thursday’s raid resulted in three Saudi fatalities, including a pilot.
The victims have been a multinational mix: Saudi nationals, as well as citizens of Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sudan and the United States. Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki the Saudi-led coalition’s spokesperson, warned that the strikes “will not go unpunished.” The Houthi militia, which first claimed responsibility for attacks earlier in the week, has not immediately acknowledged the latest missile hit, though it has repeatedly warned airlines to avoid Saudi airspace and oil facilities.
U.S. diplomatic and security response
The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert on Saturday, urging American citizens to steer clear of KKIA and surrounding areas. The advisory highlighted potential flight cancellations, airspace closures and general travel disruptions, and urged travelers to verify their flight status directly with airlines.
Trump’s remarks—“We may. We’re going to look at it… We just found out about the recent attack. So we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly.”—came as Washington continues to provide intelligence, targeting assistance and air-defense support to Saudi forces, a partnership that has intensified since May 2025’s Operation Rough Rider.
Broader regional escalation
Airport strikes are a hallmark of Houthi tactics. In 2019, a similar assault on Abha was condemned as a potential war crime by Human Rights Watch. The militia has also threatened to block Saudi oil facilities and has recently seized the Yemeni port of Mokha and Perim Island, aiming to control the Bab el-Mandeb Strait—an essential chokepoint for global oil shipments.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has repeatedly called on Trump to act as the Houthi gains threaten Red Sea traffic. While the United States has said it has no immediate plans to intervene directly in the Yemen war, the prospect of U.S. strikes would mark the first direct action against the Houthi since Operation Rough Rider, which had previously degraded the militia’s missile capabilities.
Domestically, the war with Iran and its proxy forces remains deeply unpopular. An AP-NORC poll from October 1 indicated that 69 % of Americans believe the conflict has not been worth fighting. Trump also pledged not to attack Iran before the November 3 midterms, a promise that does not address potential strikes on the Houthi in Yemen.
Ground fighting around Taiz
Concurrently, the Houthi militia is intensifying ground operations south and west of Yemen’s third-largest city, Taiz. They have attempted to encircle the city, with fighting reported in the valleys of Wadi al-Dhabab, Jabal Sabr and Najd Qasim. Yemeni government-aligned forces claim to have repelled several Houthi advances, while the militia announced control over several districts—claims that remain unverified.
Saudi and Yemeni air assets continue to target Houthi logistics, missile launchers and weapons depots, sustaining a high-tempo air campaign that the militia has struggled to disrupt. Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki reported that Saudi joint forces have destroyed 136 Houthi military targets recently and are focusing on neutralizing ballistic missile capabilities.
Should Washington decide to join the Saudi-Yemeni air effort, it would provide an additional layer of intelligence and possibly close-range strike support, echoing the limited but decisive role U.S. forces played during Operation Rough Rider.
For now, the situation remains fluid. Saudi civil aviation authorities are assessing damage at KKIA, while airlines continue to cancel or reroute flights. The United States monitors the developments closely, and any decision on direct involvement is likely to hinge on the next wave of Houthi attacks and the pressure exerted by Saudi leadership.
