Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have sharply escalated attacks on Saudi Arabia over the past week, and the strikes are now reshaping the security picture across the Gulf. Reuters reported on Thursday, October 22, that Saudi Aramco ordered the evacuation of its headquarters in Dhahran, near Bahrain, as fighting between the world’s largest crude exporter and the Houthis intensified. The same day Washington ordered some diplomats and family members to leave US missions in the kingdom.
The Houthis said they hit an Aramco site in Yanbu, the Shaybah oilfield, Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and Abha airport, according to claims reported on October 19. They later claimed further strikes on the Defence Ministry, two airports and the Yanbu oil loading port. Saudi authorities did not immediately confirm all of those claims, and Aramco said its production had not been affected. Reports said two people were killed at Dammam airport in an earlier attack and that another wave of strikes killed three people.
The escalation follows the Houthis’ push toward Bab el-Mandeb last month, the narrow chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea. Separately, a Houthi attack on a government security forces training camp in Yemen’s Shabwa province killed 58 people and wounded more than 200. Kpler data cited by Reuters counted at least 18 attacks on shipping in two weeks, and analysts say Iran has also targeted tankers beyond the Strait of Hormuz.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim condemned the attacks on civilians and infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states on October 21, and called for de-escalation and freedom of navigation. Oil prices have climbed to their highest level since early May as traders price in the risk to supply.
What to watch: official Saudi statements on damage, whether Aramco’s export terminals keep operating, further US travel or diplomatic advisories, and any sign that regional mediation in Tehran is slowing the Houthi campaign.
Sources: Reuters (via Business Standard and HuffPost), CNBC, The National, DTN, Malay Mail (October 19–23, 2026). Developing story. Compiled October 27, 2026.
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