Houthis launch missiles at Saudi Arabia after Sanaa airport strikes, reigniting Middle East instability

A fragile peace that held for four years just shattered. On July 13, Houthi rebels fired missiles and drones at Abha International Airport in southern Saudi Arabia, retaliating for Saudi-led coalition strikes on Sanaa International Airport earlier the same day.

The Saudi military intercepted the projectiles, and no casualties or major damage were reported.

What happened and why it escalated

The chain of events started when Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces struck Sanaa airport. The stated goal was to prevent an Iranian plane, allegedly carrying Houthi delegates, from landing.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed the objectives of the retaliatory strikes were successfully achieved. He also issued a warning for commercial airlines to avoid Saudi airspace.

The Houthis framed the coalition’s operation at Sanaa as fundamentally an Iranian-centric endeavor, suggesting that Tehran’s involvement was the real target.

The four-year truce is gone

Since 2015, Yemen has been engulfed in a civil war, with the Iran-aligned Houthi movement controlling substantial territories, including the capital Sanaa. The Saudi-led coalition has supported Yemen’s internationally recognized government. A UN-brokered ceasefire established in 2022 helped to reduce significant hostilities.

Previous Houthi attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure, including the dramatic 2019 strikes on Aramco facilities, temporarily knocked out roughly half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production.

What this means for crypto and risk markets

Watch oil. Watch the dollar. Watch whether airlines actually reroute around Saudi airspace. And if Houthi drones start pointing at Aramco facilities instead of airport runways, the risk calculus for every asset class, crypto included, resets overnight.

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