As conflicts escalate between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, mounting damages have been reported, including a fire at the headquarters of Aramco, the state-owned oil company that underpins the Saudi national economy, on the local date of the 13th.

With growing concerns over airport safety driven by a series of attacks from Houthi rebels, nearly half of Saudi airspace has been grounded.

U.S. President Donald Trump has hinted at the possibility of retaliating against the Houthi rebels following the midterm elections in November.

The Saudi Ministry of Energy stated via X (formerly Twitter) on the same day that an office building of Aramco located in Dhahran, Eastern Province, was attacked, causing a small fire, and added that there were no casualties.

The fire broke out shortly after the Saudi military issued a warning that multiple missiles fired by Houthi rebels were heading toward the country's major oil-producing Eastern Province.

Citing an Aramco official, Reuters reported that a ballistic missile struck the Dhahran complex where Aramco's headquarters are located, damaging the top three floors of an office building.

Aramco is Saudi Arabia's state-owned petrochemical public enterprise and the central axis of the Saudi economy.

Analysts interpret that the fact the Houthis carried out an airstrike targeting Aramco's headquarters carries significant symbolism in the current conflict.

Damages also continued in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

According to Saudi civil defense authorities, debris from two intercepted Houthi missiles fell on a residential area in Riyadh, injuring four civilians and damaging 15 homes.

The Saudi military also disclosed that it intercepted a missile in Al-Kharj.

Al-Kharj is a military stronghold city of the Saudi Air Force located about 80 kilometers southeast of Riyadh.

The Saudi-led coalition also launched sudden airstrikes on major fuel and military facilities, including the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki announced, "It was confirmed by the joint forces command that the Houthi rebels are abusing civilian facilities and major infrastructure for military purposes, and we have conducted precision military operations to neutralize them."

Al-Maliki explained that major targets included the Al-Sabah central base (fueling and charging facilities) and underground reserve fuel storage in the capital Sanaa, as well as fuel transport and offloading storage tanks and piers in Hodeidah, Sanaa, and Dhamar.

He pointed out, "The Houthi rebels have usurped resources rightfully needed by the Yemeni people and directly diverted them to support terrorist acts," adding, "These facilities were used to fill arsenals of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) that threaten the safety of airports, ports, and merchant vessels in Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea."

The airstrikes were carried out shortly after the coalition issued an emergency evacuation order to civilians near the facilities ahead of the operation.

The airstrikes are interpreted as a retaliatory measure against the Houthi rebels' recent lethal strike on Riyadh International Airport.

Previously, the Houthis targeted major airports for a week in defiance of Saudi Arabia's intervention in the Yemeni civil war, and on the 10th, a missile attack targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed 13 people, marking the worst casualties in Saudi Arabia in the past decade.

Amid the consecutive Houthi attacks, it is estimated that more than 3,120 flights scheduled to depart from airports across Saudi Arabia have been canceled or grounded since the 8th.

This accounts for approximately 41% of originally scheduled departures.

The roughly 3,120 flights also include about 300 flights scheduled to depart on the 14th (local time).

Some airlines have suspended flights to Saudi Arabia citing the Houthi airport attacks, according to the Associated Press.

Fighting between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and Houthi rebels is also intensifying.

The Yemeni Ministry of Interior stated that as of the 13th, over the past 24 hours, six people were killed and 18 others were injured in Houthi attacks targeting the southwestern city of Taiz.

A Yemeni government military commander said, "The battle surrounding Taiz, which has long been a contested target, has entered a critical phase."

The reignited Yemeni civil war is showing a rapid escalation pattern, compounded by the spillover effects of the recently triggered conflict between the United States and Iran.

Following Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in February, Houthi rebels seized the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the entrance of the Red Sea—an alternative energy shipping route—blocking Saudi Arabia's oil export paths.

Saudi Arabia is deploying a large-scale military operation to push back the Houthi rebels who have advanced near the strait.

Amid these developments, President Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held phone calls with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the same day to discuss the situation.

Iran, Saudi Arabia's arch-nemesis in the region and a supporter of the Houthi rebels, stated the previous day that it would step in to mediate between the two sides.

As the situation worsens, attention is focusing on how actively the United States will intervene in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.

President Trump wrote on Truth Social on the same day, "The Houthi rebels are behaving very badly," and added, "Even after the midterm elections are over, I will be sitting in this seat, and I will never forget."

This is interpreted to mean that, regardless of the outcome of the midterm elections, he—remaining in the presidency—can order retaliatory strikes against the Houthis.

Attention is also focused on whether regional countries such as Turkey and Syria will participate in operations to defeat the Houthis.
 
(Photo: Capture from Aramco Korea website)