Houthis claim attack on Riyadh financial district

The Middle East tensions have sharply escalated after Yemen's Houthi militia claimed a Sunday attack targeting Riyadh's financial district, with shrapnel damaging a skyscraper belonging to oil giant Aramco. The strike marks the latest spillover from the standoff between the United States and Iran, sending fresh jitters across the Gulf.

"Aramco tower in KAFD has been targeted, that's the sure thing," an eyewitness told Agence France-Presse, referring to the King Abdullah Financial District. Two other witnesses confirmed seeing damage to the building.

Multiple floors of the Aramco tower appeared to have sustained damage, said a witness, with shattered glass and visible scarring on sections of the tower's facade.

In a statement, the Saudi Energy Ministry said: "An administrative building belonging to Aramco in Riyadh was subjected to an attempted attack." "The incident resulted in falling shrapnel that caused minor damage to the building, with no injuries or fatalities reported, thankfully," it said.

Home to some of Saudi Arabia's biggest domestic firms and blue-chip international companies, the KAFD stands as one of the most visible symbols of the kingdom's ongoing economic and social reform drive, lined with towering glass skyscrapers and high-end retail outlets.

A 2022 truce that halted hostilities in Yemen's civil conflict collapsed in July. Since then, Saudi Arabia has exchanged fire with the Houthis, who have repeatedly targeted Saudi airports, energy infrastructure and military installations.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces … carried out four qualitative military operations, using a number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement, listing targets, including the financial district, Riyadh airport and Aramco oil storage tanks.

Major escalation

Striking the KAFD — which also hosts residential blocks and a busy metro station packed with morning rush-hour commuters — represented a major escalation in the Houthis' targeting strategy, if their claim is confirmed.

"I see this as an attack on the credibility of Vision 2030 as much as on Aramco itself," Andreas Krieg of London-based risk consultancy MENA Analytica told AFP, referencing Saudi Arabia's economic diversification plan.

Sunday was a workday in the kingdom, and many schools resumed classes on Sunday after weeks of home learning and several Saudi government agencies resumed work suspended after earlier Houthi attacks.

The attack unfolded amid a war of words between Tehran and Washington over the risk of renewed hostilities.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that renewed strikes on Iran are "highly unlikely" if negotiations over Iran's nuclear program and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz yield progress.

He said there are three aircraft carriers stationed in the region that are "fully locked and loaded", claiming the US has 38 bridges in Iran in its crosshairs that "we can knock down in literally one hour".

Meanwhile, the US has stepped up efforts to curb Iran's supply routes across land borders and the Caspian Sea. In a post, Trump said the new blockade was "in full force and effect" in Iran, and that, combined with the US naval blockade, "very little gets into, or out of, Iran".

The US Central Command announced on Saturday the launch of Iron Gate, a roughly 20-member task force headquartered in Florida. Its mandate is to extend Washington's restrictive measures to Iran's overland supply networks and Caspian Sea traffic.

Tehran has dismissed the effort as another attempt to impose economic pressure and undermine the Iranian economy.

At a Monday news conference, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the so-called Iron Gate task force was a distraction meant to "divert attention from the US midterm election results".

He urged Washington to accept Tehran's two-day proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, calling it "the most reasonable proposal on the table".

Earlier, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Iran would "rain down hell" if the US launches fresh attacks.

Agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.