AI Summary
5 min readSaudi under siege: Houthis attack airport
On Saturday, the deadliest attack in more than a decade struck Saudi Arabia — not on a battlefield in Yemen, but at Riyadh's international airport, the gleaming symbol of the kingdom's global ambitions. A second attack followed on Sunday. The Houthis, an Iranian-backed militia from Yemen, had been firing at the airport for three weeks already. They hit a fuel tank on September 20th. An attack on Thursday killed three people, including a pilot, and destroyed a plane belonging to Saudia, one of the state-owned carriers. Then came the mass casualty event on Saturday. Foreign airlines had already cancelled hundreds of flights, yet Saudi authorities kept the airport open — a decision that Greg Carlstrom, The Economist's Middle East correspondent reporting from Riyadh, says "looks reckless to many people here."
The war that came home
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What you'll learn
- 1 Saudi under siege: Houthis attack airport
- 2 (01:06) **Introduction** - Rosie Blor opens the episode with the top story: Houthi attacks on Riyadh's airport
- 3 (01:37) **The Attack and Its Context** - Greg Karlstrom, Middle East correspondent in Riyadh, frames the weekend attacks as the deadliest in Saudi Arabia in over a decade
- 4 (02:43) **Who Are the Houthis?** - Greg explains the origins of the conflict: an Iranian-backed militia that seized control of Yemen in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led invasion in 2015
- 5 (03:56) **Escalation of Capabilities** - The airport attacks represent a significant escalation in the stalemate
- 6 (04:55) **Why Target Airports?** - Greg explains the strategic timing
- 7 (06:17) **Impact on Both Populations** - The war's toll differs dramatically between the two sides
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
This weekend, Yemeni rebels struck Saudi Arabia’s international airport in the deadliest attack on a Gulf Arab country since the Iran war began in February. Our correspondent reports from Riyadh. How European manufacturers are adjusting to high energy prices and war. And the revival of writing by hand.
Guests and host:
- Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent
- Guy Scriven, global business writer
- Caitlin Talbot, culture correspondent
- Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
Topics covered:
- Saudi Arabia, Houthis, Yemen, Riyadh airport
- European carmakers, energy prices, tariffs
- Cursive, handwriting
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