Some Saudi students were told last week to remain at home and take classes online because of continued threats from Houthi attacks in neighbouring Yemen. The following day, they were cleared to return to school in person.
The disruption has reached well beyond the border areas. A Houthi projectile damaged a school in Najran, near the Yemeni border, Saudi authorities said. On 3 October 2026, flames and heavy smoke rose near a facility belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco in Riyadh. The cause of the fire was unclear.
After a comparatively calm period, the Iran-backed Houthis stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia in July 2026, beginning in the southern Jizan and Abha regions. By September, strikes had reached Taif, Mecca and Riyadh. At least 37 sites in Saudi Arabia were hit between 3 July and 26 September, with 33 attacks believed to have been carried out by the Houthis and four coming from Iraq.
Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia rose by 333% between July and September. The conflict escalated in July between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.
Marcus Schneider, head of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s Regional Peace and Security Project in the Middle East, said: “The escalation in Yemen is drawing the Saudis deeper into the regional war, a war that Saudi Arabia actually wanted to prevent.”
The pressure on oil supplies centres on the East–West Pipeline. Iraq-based drone strikes damaged three pumping stations on 9 September, temporarily disrupting the line. The pipeline carries crude 1,200 kilometres from Saudi eastern fields to Yanbu on the Red Sea and transports approximately 4-5 million b/d, or 4-5% of global crude supply.
The Houthis have also declared a ‘maritime embargo’ on Saudi Arabia since mid-July. They have struck ten ships, sunk one and killed or injured a total of 16 seafarers and rescuers. Their advance along Yemen’s coast has given them a stronger position over maritime traffic in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
By 11 September, Houthi rebels had moved through al-Mocha, al-Khokha, Hays and Dhubab, and taken the strategic islands of Zuqar, Hunaish and Mayyun/Perim. The group did so with help from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah, according to the account of the advance.
The Houthis have claimed attacks on Saudi cities and energy infrastructure, including Aramco facilities in Yanbu. Saudi energy infrastructure is particularly vulnerable to Houthi attacks. In Sanaa, loud explosions were heard across the capital on Saturday, and AFP correspondents reported at least five blasts.
The wider risk extends to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030, his plan to move Saudi Arabia away from dependence on oil revenues. Renewed Houthi attacks endanger that project as the conflict deepens.
France and the UK have made defensive commitments to Saudi Arabia, citing the effects of regional instability on their own economies. The United States has declined to join the Saudi-backed offensive directly, while providing intelligence and defensive assistance.
Vice President JD Vance chaired a meeting at Camp David on Friday on the war in Iran and the escalating Saudi-Houthi conflict in Yemen. For oil buyers, the immediate question is how long Saudi export routes and infrastructure can remain exposed while the fighting spreads across the coast, the sea lanes and Saudi cities.
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