The Trump administration is considering joining Saudi Arabia’s air campaign against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels following a missile attack Saturday on the Riyadh airport that killed at least a dozen people, including an American, and injured more than 300 others.
The missile strike on the capital’s King Khalid International Airport was the deadliest attack in years on the leading oil exporter.
On Sunday, the Houthis suggested that airlines, workers and travelers should avoid Saudi airports and airspace, warning that the facilities are “vulnerable to targeting and constitute a theater of operations for our forces.”
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“The armed forces affirm their commitment to implement the declared equation: an airport for an airport, a blockade for a blockade, and escalation for escalation, until the objectives are achieved,” said Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman.
President Trump said Saturday the U.S. may join Saudi operations against the Houthis, including direct military involvement.
“We’re going to look at it,” Mr. Trump told reporters outside the White House. “We’ll make a decision. We move very quickly.
Last year, the U.S. launched an intense bombing campaign against the Houthis primarily to end their persistent missile and drone attacks on international commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The strikes disrupted global maritime trade and forced ships into costly detours around Africa.
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