Saudi Yemen War Faces Houthi Pressure on Riyadh

Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia disrupted Riyadh’s flagship oil conference, prompting top executives to withdraw as organizers offered remote participation at the Future Investment Initiative. The strikes also hit King Khalid International Airport and Saudi Aramco, where a fire spread across several floors.

The attacks target infrastructure and investment events central to Saudi Arabia’s economic ambitions, according to Saudi, Iranian and regional sources. The campaign aims to pressure Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to meet Houthi demands in Yemen and persuade US President Donald Trump to ease the US blockade on Iran’s economy.

Attacks and demands

The Houthis’ demands include an end to Saudi military operations and restrictions on Yemeni ports and airports, regular flights to Iran, restored salary payments, war compensation and an end to Riyadh’s support for Yemen’s recognized government, according to two Saudi sources and three regional sources familiar with Saudi thinking. Meeting those demands would consolidate Houthi rule over much of Yemen.

Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam denied that the group acted at Iran’s behest. He described its demands as longstanding humanitarian issues involving Saudi Arabia, including lifting restrictions on Yemeni ports, airports and the economy, and paying civil servants from Yemen’s own resources. “Our humanitarian demands have nothing to do with Iran or anyone else,” he said.

A senior Iranian official said the attacks formed part of a wider strategy to reshape the regional balance of power by targeting energy infrastructure and key shipping routes. The official said Riyadh couldn’t rely on US protection and should negotiate, adding that Houthi attacks would continue unless Saudi restrictions were lifted.

The Houthis are Iran’s principal regional backer. Easing pressure on Tehran would likely strengthen its ability to sustain political, financial and military support, along with the flow of weapons and cash on which the US says the movement depends.

War and economic pressure

Riyadh intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Houthis took the capital, Sanaa. The war became a bloody stalemate before a ceasefire in 2022. In 2019, attacks on Aramco facilities temporarily disrupted about 5% of global oil supply.

The latest Aramco strike hit the world’s largest oil exporter and a backbone of Saudi Arabia’s economy. The attacks have also disrupted an investment forum serving the kingdom’s economic ambitions.

Iran faces mounting economic and military pressure following the war launched by the US and Israel on February 28, said Michael Knights of strategic advisory Horizon Engage. “The Iranians are in a chokehold,” he said. Tehran can’t force Washington to change course directly, so it and the Houthis are “hammering Saudi Arabia, they’re hammering the weak point,” he said, referring to the kingdom’s economic vulnerability and desire for stability.

The unravelling of a 2023 Saudi-backed peace roadmap has added to the crisis, Yemen analyst Farea al-Muslimi said. The roadmap offered the Houthis a path to political legitimacy and reconstruction funding; Riyadh was set to help fund public-sector salaries and rebuilding. The Red Sea conflict derailed the process as the Houthis deepened their alignment with Iran.

Riyadh weighs its options

Sources familiar with Saudi thinking said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman faces a choice: escalate, risking a wider war and undermining his transformation agenda, or make concessions that could strengthen the movement. The longer the conflict lasts, the greater the threat to Saudi security, investor confidence and Vision 2030.

Saudi leaders now see military pressure as their only viable option, said Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Saudi-based Gulf Research Center. “They reached a point of no negotiations,” he said. “They have no other choice except military action.” Fawaz Gerges, a Middle East analyst at the London School of Economics, said the Houthis increasingly view themselves as negotiating from strength and seek recognition of their authority in Sanaa and an easing of restrictions on Yemen. “What the Houthis are asking now is a victor’s peace,” he said.

Washington has shown little appetite for another sustained campaign against the Houthis since it bombed them last year over attacks on Red Sea shipping and then agreed to a ceasefire, sources familiar with Saudi thinking said. When Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked Trump for help fighting the Houthis, Trump didn’t agree to US strikes, sources told Reuters last month. Washington instead offered targeting assistance and intelligence-sharing.

Yemen analyst Farea al-Muslimi warned the crisis could spread across the Arabian Peninsula. “We’re heading toward the worst outcome imaginable,” he said. “A war worse than 2015. This time it will be bloodier, and Saudi Arabia will enter it with fewer allies.” He said a successful campaign against the Houthis would require Gulf unity, mainly between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.