War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Turkiye condemned an attack on Riyadh’s international airport that killed 12 people, slamming the “deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure and innocent civilians”, AFP reports.

The attack was “a flagrant violation of international law”, Turkiye’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

It called for “actions threatening regional security and stability” to stop immediately.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar expressed concern at what he called the Houthi attack on the Riyadh airport.

“We pray for the speedy recovery of all those injured, including the six Pakistani nationals,” he said.

“Attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure are totally unacceptable, violate international law and pose a serious threat to regional peace and security. Such acts must cease immediately,” he said.

“We are in touch with the Saudi Authorities and are closely following the situation. I have directed our embassy in Riyadh to coordinate with the concerned authorities to provide all possible assistance to the injured Pakistani nationals,” he said.

“We stand in solidarity with Saudi Arabia’s leadership and brotherly people. Pakistan remains firmly committed to the kingdom’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and security in accordance with the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement,” he said.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has commended Oman for its efforts to promote regional peace and emphasised continued regional consultations in a phone call with the Sultan of Oman, state-owned IRNA reports.

According to the agency, Pezeshkian commended the Sultan and the Omani government for their efforts to promote regional peace and stability.

“He stressed the importance of maintaining diplomatic consultations, expanding constructive interactions, and utilising the shared potential of regional nations to foster mutual understanding and cooperation,” IRNA added.

France has condemned the “heinous attack” by Yemen’s Houthis a day earlier on Riyadh’s international airport and stressed “total solidarity” with Saudi Arabia, AFP reports.

France, which is already lending troops and military equipment to Saudi Arabia, “will continue to remain by its side in its defence of its territory and its infrastructure”, a foreign ministry statement said, calling on the Houthis to cease their attacks.

The Saudi embassy in Kuwait has said it was organising buses to transport its citizens back to the kingdom after their flights were cancelled following attacks on Riyadh airport, AFP reports.

“The embassy said it would provide buses to transport Saudi citizens wishing to return to Riyadh whose flights had been cancelled, provided they have proof of a cancelled flight booking,” read a statement posted online by the embassy.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has “unequivocally denounced” the Houthi attack on Riyadh’s main airport.

“There can be no justification for attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure,” he said on X.

The United Arab Emirates has said it stands in solidarity with Saudi Arabia after the deadly attack on Riyadh’s airport, and expressed support for “all measures” to safeguard the kingdom’s security, AFP reports.

The UAE foreign ministry in a statement denounced the “flagrant violation” of Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty. It “reaffirmed the UAE’s full solidarity with Saudi Arabia and its support for all measures aimed at safeguarding the kingdom’s security and stability”.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, in an interview with Press TV, has said the country would pursue legal cases in domestic and foreign courts over the US-Israeli aggression against Minab’s elementary school.

Iraq has condemned the deadly attack on Riyadh’s international airport, warning that it endangered “regional security and stability” and calling for an end to hostilities, AFP reports.

“Iraq calls for a comprehensive cessation of military operations, to spare civilians and the peoples of brotherly countries the consequences and repercussions, and to ensure that civilian facilities are protected,” the Iraqi prime minister’s spokesman Sabah al-Numan said in a statement.

UK Defence Minister Wes Streeting has condemned Saturday’s deadly Houthi attack on Riyadh’s airport as a “dangerous escalation” and “contemptible”, AFP reports.

“What we’ve seen overnight is a dangerous escalation and I’m afraid an increasing pattern of behaviour from the Houthis that’s targeting civilian sites in Saudi Arabia. This is completely contemptible action,“ he told Sky News.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has said he “firmly condemns” the deadly Houthi attack on Riyadh’s airport, which he described as “a terrorist act against Saudi Arabia and civil aviation”.

“Our thoughts are with the victims and I send my sincere condolences to their loved ones,” he wrote on X.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen called the deadly Houthi attack on Riyadh airport a “dangerous escalation” and said the group must halt strikes on civilian targets.

“These attacks by Iran’s proxies are pushing the region into a spiral of violence. They are destabilising crucial global transport and energy nodes with shockwave sent through the world. These murderous attacks at civilians must stop at once,” von der Leyen said, adding the EU stands in “solidarity with Saudi Arabia”.

Operations at Riyadh’s international airport continue to be suspended following fatal attacks on the facility, AFP reports, citing a senior aviation source in the Saudi capital, after authorities announced a temporary closure yesterday.

“Riyadh airport has suspended operations again today. They informed us of this at dawn,” the source said.

A second source working in the aviation sector who helps oversee flights to Riyadh confirmed the halt in operations “until further notice”.

Yemen’s Houthis have warned passengers against using Saudi airports after an attack on the airport in the capital Riyadh left 12 people dead and hundreds wounded.

“The Yemeni armed forces renew their warning to all aviation and navigation companies, experts, staff, workers, and travellers against using Saudi airports and airspace,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on X.

“The airports and airspace are exposed to targeting and constitute a theatre of operations for our forces, with the exception of the airports of Makkah and Madina,” he added.

Saudi stocks fell after an attack on Riyadh’s international airport killed at least 12 people and wounded over 300, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade, Reuters reports.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index .TASI dropped 1 per cent with most of its constituents in negative territory, including top lender Saudi National Bank 1180.SE, which was down 1pc. Oil major Saudi Aramco 2222.SE was down 0.6pc.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has condemned the attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport in a post on X.

“I am deeply shocked by & strongly condemn Saturday’s lethal attack by the Houthis on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which reportedly killed 12 people & injured hundreds of civilians,” he writes.

Guterres adds, “Attacks on civilians & civilian infrastructure are a violation of international law. These attacks must cease immediately.”

The US embassy in Saudi Arabia says staff working in the kingdom would now be required to request permission to use airports in the cities of Jeddah and Dammam, days after a similar order was issued for Riyadh, AFP reports.

“US government employees working in Saudi Arabia require special authorisation to use the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, as well as the airports in Jeddah and Dammam,” reads a statement published online following fatal attacks on Riyadh airport.

The organisers of the World Petroleum Congress and the Future Investment Initiative have confirmed they will proceed, despite a major attack on Riyadh’s international airport and a warning from Yemen’s Houthis, who have declared Saudi airspace a military operations zone, Al Jazeera reports.

The World Petroleum Congress is set to host top global oil executives and policymakers from Sunday to Thursday, with attendees expected to include Saudi government officials and heads of corporations including ExxonMobil, Shell and Woodside Energy.

“Your comfort is our priority,” an email sent to delegates says, noting that alternative routes to Riyadh, including via a four-hour drive from Dammam on the kingdom’s eastern coast, were available.

The Future Investment Initiative would also proceed as planned from October 26 to 29, organisers say.

Chief executives of some of the world’s biggest financial institutions such as JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon and Citi’s Jane Fraser are on the list of expected attendees.

The Houthis have warned airliners to avoid Saudi airspace, declaring it a zone of military operations after the Yemeni government army launched an offensive against the Iran-backed group earlier this month.

Deadly strikes on civilian airports in Saudi Arabia represent “a grave escalation” by Houthis in Yemen, a UN special envoy has said, AFP reports.

“These attacks represent a grave escalation,” Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy for Yemen, said in a statement after a strike on Riyadh’s international airport killed at least 12 people. “Such actions pose a serious threat to regional security, perpetuate cycles of violence and complicate even more peace efforts for Yemen.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that the United States strongly condemns recent attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Reuters reports.

He said an American citizen was killed in the strikes.

“These reprehensible attacks demonstrate a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life. They must stop now,” Rubio wrote on X.

The US military has said it had disabled a commercial cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman after the ship’s crew ignored warnings and attempted to run a naval blockade against Iran, Reuters reports.

“A US military fighter jet struck the stern of Panama-flagged M/V Ocean Molica (also known as the “Arika Sun”) with a precision munition, fully disabling the ship’s propulsion without harming the crew,” the US Central Command posted on X.

CENTCOM said the cargo vessel had attempted to transit regional waters after leaving an Iranian port.

Reuters was not immediately able to reach the bulk carrier’s operator for comment.

CENTCOM warned mariners in the Gulf of Oman and the approaches to the Strait of Hormuz to heed blockade warnings, monitor notice-to-mariners broadcasts and contact US naval forces.

The attack on Riyadh’s international airport killed at least 12 people and wounded 309 others, some of them seriously, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation officials said, AFP reports.

Four Saudi citizens were among the dead, as well as two Bangladeshis, one US citizen, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian and one Sudanese, the statement added.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis has said that a projectile fell in the vicinity of King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.

At least two people have been killed in an attack on Riyadh airport, a medical source at a local hospital tells AFP.

The source has identified one of the victims as an Egyptian flight attendant working for a Saudi airline, while the second was a Palestinian with Egyptian travel documents.

Another source briefed on the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity, has confirmed the deaths and the victims’ nationalities.