One person was killed in a new attack on Riyadh's international airport on Sunday, Saudi authorities reported, a day after a strike claimed by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis left 13 people dead.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attacks that left more than 300 people wounded.
The King Khalid International Airport – struck four times in the past five days – has been closed since the weekend missile attack – the deadliest in a Gulf Arab nation since the Iran war began.
The latest strike came shortly after the Houthis said the airport in the rebel-held Yemeni capital of Sanaa had been struck again, and blamed the Saudis.
About 60 per cent of scheduled flights at the Riyadh airport are expected to be cancelled on Monday, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed.
The sharp escalation in the war's new front threatens to draw in greater US military involvement. President Donald Trump has said he is weighing joining the fight against the Houthis. There was no White House comment on Sunday.
Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the events of recent weeks were serious and the kingdom's response must be "equally serious".
Expert says Houthis' tactics could backfire
The Houthis until recently had been largely on the Iran war’s sidelines.
They have developed their military capabilities in recent years to become one of Tehran’s most powerful allies.
Now they're pressuring its regional rival and a key US ally.
Late Sunday, Saudi Arabia and Iran said their foreign ministers had spoken by phone.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he warned against insisting on a military approach and ignoring a political solution, and said Tehran was ready to help start a dialogue between the Saudis and the Houthis.
The Saudis and Houthis began fighting in 2015, when the kingdom entered Yemen’s civil war on behalf of the government.
Relative calm after a 2022 ceasefire ended in July when the Houthis resumed attacks, saying the Saudis fired on the Sanaa airport as a plane from Iran was trying to land.
The attack revived anger over the Saudi-led blockade that has largely isolated Houthi-run areas.
The rebels declared a blockade on Saudi Arabia.Now the Saudi-led coalition is providing air support for Yemeni government forces attempting to reverse Houthi territorial gains.
But the rebels' pressure tactics could backfire, said Ahmed Nagi, the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for Yemen: “Rather than pushing Riyadh to step back, attacks on critical Saudi infrastructure could make the Saudis more determined to continue the campaign.”
Trump says he plans to speak to Saudi crown prince
There was no sign that Donald Trump had followed up on plans to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been seeking assistance against the war-hardened rebel group that is currently Iran's most dynamic proxy.
A US intervention could prompt the Houthis to halt shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea off Yemen, further restricting the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.
The rebels seized key areas along the strait last month. The Saudi-led coalition, backing forces with Yemen's internationally recognised government, has been trying to seize them back.
The rebels' strikes against Saudi airports, oil infrastructure and military facilities highlight a problem.
The kingdom is running low on missile interceptors and has asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air defence support to the region, regional officials told The Associated Press last month, with one noting that the US has seen its own stock dwindle during the Iran war.
Some airlines have suspended flights serving Saudi airports, and some embassies have cautioned citizens about the risks of using them, after multiple Houthi warnings about the rebels' use of Saudi airspace.
Iran says escalation 'will only benefit the Israeli regime'
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was “deeply concerned about developments in the Arabian Peninsula”, Al Jazeera reported.
He added the escalation “will only benefit the Israeli regime”.
Photos: Projectile strikes passenger terminal at Riyadh airport
A projectile struck a passenger terminal at the international airport in Riyadh on Sunday, a day after a missile hit the same terminal and killed 13 people, the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for those attacks and others.
Saudi coalition says it is dealing with drones and missile headed towards kingdom
The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Houthis said on Monday it was dealing with drones and missiles heading towards Saudi Arabia, as hostilities with the Iran-aligned Yemeni group persist.
Meanwhile, businesses in Riyadh's financial hub have told employees to work remotely after the Houthis increased attacks on the kingdom.
That’s according to multiple employees whose firms have offices at the King Abdullah Financial District.
They spoke Monday on condition of anonymity for their safety.
The district is home to major financial institutions including the Saudi sovereign wealth fund and an Aramco office, stock exchange and global firms like Goldman Sachs.
Authorities in Riyadh have also asked schools to switch to online classes this week following the deadly strikes on King Khalid International Airport over the weekend.
Who were the victims of attack in Riyadh?
Inside Saudi Arabia, identities emerged for some of those killed in Saturday's attack in Riyadh, including an Egyptian flight attendant and a Syrian widow living in the kingdom.
The government has previously said the dead also include four Saudi citizens, as well as two Bangladeshi nationals, one Palestinian, one American, one Jordanian and one Sudanese national.
Early Monday, Saudi Arabia released videos of the moment of the strike captured by security cameras.
They show people, many dressed in the white robes of Mecca-bound pilgrims, standing in line in a busy hall, while others scroll phones in a nearby seating area before a fireball erupts, following by people throwing themselves to the floor and running for safety.
Is it safe to travel to Saudi Arabia?
The UK government has updated its travel advice for parts of Saudi Arabia, including the capital, Riyadh, as tensions escalate in the Middle East with Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claiming to be targeting the capital’s airport.
Airstrikes target Yemen's capital
Yemen’s Houthis reported airstrikes on Sanaa's Hamdan and Thourah districts as the conflict between the Iranian-backed rebels and Saudi Arabia continues to escalate.
The rebels’ media centre said the strikes occurred at midnight Monday, without providing further details.
The centre blamed Saudi Arabia for the strikes, which came as the Houthis continued to fire missiles and drones toward the kingdom’s airports.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh airport to cancel about 60% of flights
About 60 pr cent of scheduled flights at Riyadh airport in Saudi Arabia are expected to be cancelled on Monday, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed, after attacks from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis killed over a dozen people over the weekend.
King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh cancelled 99.7 per cent of all scheduled flights on Sunday, according to Cirium.
The Saudi capital's airport remained closed on Sunday after an attack that killed one and left nearly a dozen hurt, which followed another deadly strike claimed by the Houthis the previous day, in which 13 people died and more than 300 were wounded.
CCTV released by Saudi Arabia shows moment of deadly attack on Riyadh's international airport
The moment of deadly attack on Riyadh's international airport.