Deadly Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia raise stakes for US : NPR

The deadliest attack on a Gulf Arab state since the Iran war began has heightened concerns that the United States could become directly involved in another regional conflict.

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Saudi Arabia says Houthi attacks against its airports have killed at least 20 people in the last week.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Houthis are firing missiles from Yemen at the airport in Riyadh, as well as others to the south and east of the capital.

MARTIN: Joining us to talk about the latest is NPR correspondent in the Gulf Aya Batrawy. She’s joining us from Dubai. Aya, good morning.

AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.

MARTIN: So tell us what’s been happening in Riyadh.

BATRAWY: OK. This is a really busy airport. It’s one that I just flew out from a week ago. And it connects Riyadh to the world. This is a landlocked city, and so there’s really no quick way to get to the capital except by flying in. Now Riyadh airport has been hit at least four times over the past week, including twice over the weekend. The deadliest attack was Saturday. The Houthis struck a passenger terminal there.

The Saudis released CCTV footage showing passengers, many of them Muslim pilgrims headed to Mecca, standing in line when a fireball hits the passenger terminal and parts of the ceiling collapse. Helicopters were seen flying in to medevac the wounded out. And Saudi authorities say 13 people of various nationalities were killed, including a U.S. citizen. And more than 300 others were wounded, some critically, according to authorities.

Now, Saudi state TV also showed the health minister visiting some of the wounded in Riyadh’s hospitals. He spoke with a distraught mother whose daughter from Sudan is a flight attendant on Saudi airlines. And she says she’s the family’s breadwinner but has been badly wounded. They also showed a man with face burns and a toddler with a neck brace on in the hospital beds.

MARTIN: And what’s been the international reaction to this?

BATRAWY: So, Michel, of course, there’s been a slew of global condemnations against these attacks. But all eyes are really on President Trump. We know the Saudis have asked Washington for refueling support in their fighter jet attacks on Yemen’s Houthis, but Trump has not yet agreed to that. The U.S. is helping with intel on the Houthis. But unlike France, the U.K., Turkey and Pakistan, which have all sent military help to the Saudis, Trump seems still cold to getting involved in another Gulf war, especially at a time when there are still daily Iranian attacks happening on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

MARTIN: What are the Houthis saying about why they are attacking Saudi airports specifically and so aggressively now?

BATRAWY: Well, Michel, to take a step back, Saudi Arabia has been at war with the Houthis, who are backed by Iran, since 2015. And they’ve been trying ever since, unsuccessfully, to reinstall the Yemeni government to power. And the Houthi fighters last month pushed Yemeni government forces out of territory along the Red Sea. So the Saudis then launched this major offensive a week ago with around a hundred fighter jets and Yemeni government forces on the ground to try and roll back those Houthi gains.

But here we are a week later, and the Houthis still control the port city of Mokha. Another major city of Taiz is encircled by Houthi forces. And the Houthis are still able to hit Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea and blockade Saudi from shipping out its oil that way. And so the Houthis say they’re attacking Saudi airports now in response to what they say are more than 2,000 Saudi airstrikes on Yemen in past weeks that have also killed women and children there.

The Houthis have also been hitting Saudi energy sites. And I can’t stress enough what a blow this is to Saudi Arabia, which is one of the world’s biggest spenders on defense, particularly from the U.S. These attacks are really testing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ability to secure the country and to carry out major economic reforms that are meant to draw in foreign investors and tourists to Saudi Arabia. But as of this moment, the capital’s airport is shut down and under persistent attacks.

MARTIN: That is NPR’s correspondent in Dubai, Aya Batrawy. Aya, thank you.

BATRAWY: Thanks, Michel.

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