Saudi Arabian authorities issued air-raid alerts for Riyadh early Saturday, the first in the capital since the height of the US-Iran war in March and April.
The kingdom’s early warning system issued emergency alerts at 4 a.m. and again at 6 a.m. for residents of the capital, without giving further details. The Saudi civil defense said the danger had lifted soon after in both cases.
Other areas across Saudi Arabia received similar warnings overnight, including the Red Sea cities of Jeddah and Yanbu and Farasan Island in the Red Sea.
Saudi Arabia has come under renewed attack this month, with the Houthis, an Iran-backed group based in Yemen, targeting western towns and energy infrastructure. Last week, the Saudi government said a drone attack emanating from Iraq — which has several pro-Tehran militias — caused the vital East-West pipeline to be shut down.
Yemen’s Houthis have been carrying out almost daily strikes against Saudi Arabia in the last month, with one attack causing a death and several injuries in Taif on Thursday.
The group has launched a push recently to exert further control on the Red Sea’s Bab al-Mandeb and made significant gains on Yemen’s western coast, taking over the port city of Mokha and a series of islands close to the strait.
The Iran-backed militia has also said it was imposing a blockade on Saudi ships in the Red Sea, and hit several ships in the waterway, which has served as a key oil export route for the kingdom since the war between the US and Iran brought traffic in the Strait of Hormuz to a near halt.
The closure of the pipeline bypassing Hormuz last week further squeezed an energy market grappling with supply shortage and pushed oil prices higher. State-run Saudi Aramco is seeking to restore the pipeline to about half capacity within days and reach full capability in about six weeks, a person familiar with the matter has said, causing oil prices to pare some of their gains, although they remain around $100 a barrel.
The latest development may also present a challenge for the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The pipeline attack and Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz have caused Saudi Arabia’s oil exports to plunge. The fresh hostilities now threaten to hit the kingdom’s attempts to attract investment and tourists to diversify the economy.
Next month, Riyadh is scheduled to host Saudi Arabia’s flagship investment conference, called the Future Investment Initiative. This year’s edition is set to feature many high-profile Wall Street executives, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon and David Solomon of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
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