The United States warned on Saturday that fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement could escalate rapidly, after a missile strike targeted Riyadh for the first time since hostilities resumed in Yemen.
The State Department said in a security alert that “this military conflict has the potential to escalate rapidly” and urged American citizens outside the Middle East to reconsider travel to the region. The alert covered Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, warning of possible flight cancellations and airspace closures. Washington separately restricted travel for U.S. government personnel to the Saudi cities of Taif and Yanbu, the latter home to a major Red Sea oil export terminal previously struck by the Houthis.
President Donald Trump cut short a weekend at Camp David to return to the White House on Saturday, though the White House did not explain the early return. It came hours after explosions were heard in Riyadh and a fuel tank bearing the Aramco logo was seen ablaze near the capital’s international airport, following a Houthi missile attack that Saudi authorities said their air defences intercepted.
The Yemen conflict, which predates the wider Middle East war triggered by U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, has emerged as its most active front since a 2022 truce collapsed in July. The Houthis have since launched a broad offensive against Yemen’s internationally recognised government, leaving hundreds dead and displacing more than 110,000 people, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
The fighting has already disrupted oil exports from Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude exporter, and maritime traffic through the region. Trump has so far declined Saudi requests for direct U.S. military intervention against the Houthis, though officials say Washington is providing intelligence and targeting support.
