Riyadh Bureau. Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh came under attack for the second time in two days on Sunday (October 12), killing one Pakistani national and injuring 11 others, according to Saudi authorities. The King Fahd International Airport in Dammam was also hit. According to Al Jazeera, the fresh strike came a day after a missile attack killed at least 12 people at the airport near Riyadh.
Two attacks in two days
Saturday’s missile strike on the airport killed at least 12 people and wounded around 300, according to reports. Hours before Sunday’s second attack, Houthi-affiliated media in Yemen claimed an airstrike had damaged buildings at the airport in the rebel-held capital, Sanaa. The back-to-back strikes have raised questions about the effectiveness of Saudi Arabia’s air defences against Houthi missiles.
Trump shifts tone
Following the deadly Riyadh attack, US President Donald Trump said he would reconsider America’s role in Yemen and is weighing resuming strikes on Iran, according to Al Jazeera. The remarks mark a departure from his comments on Thursday, when he said Washington would not resume strikes on Iran until after the US midterm elections. The shift comes as tensions across the Gulf reach a peak.
Diplomacy on the line
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke by phone with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, about the escalating regional tensions. Araghchi stressed that insisting on a military approach would further complicate the situation and said the region’s crises had no military solution. He also offered Iran’s help in facilitating dialogue between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in Yemen. Notably, the two countries restored embassies under a 2023 Chinese-brokered agreement, but Riyadh-Tehran ties have deteriorated since the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February 2026. In March 2026, Prince Faisal warned Tehran that tolerance of its attacks on Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Gulf states was limited and that Iran should recalculate its strategy.
