Houthis Threaten to Strike Saudi Arabia's Vital Infrastructure
The Houthi movement on Thursday threatened to attack oil facilities and vital infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. The threat was issued in response to the potential involvement of Riyadh in attacks against Yemen.
“All Saudi oil facilities and vital installations will be targets of our missiles and drones if Riyadh becomes involved” in attacks against Yemen, said Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi in a speech broadcast by the group’s television channel, Al-Masirah.
“The equation is (…) an airport answered by an airport, a port answered by a port, and a blockade answered by a blockade,” he declared.
The Houthi group fired missiles into Saudi territory on Monday following an attack by Yemeni government forces on Sanaa airport, which shattered a calm that had lasted for years. Although the Houthis accused Riyadh of carrying out the attack on the airport, Riyadh declined to comment on the allegation.
In his weekly speech, al-Houthi stressed that “surrender is not an option in Yemen,” warning that if Saudi Arabia moved towards a full-scale escalation, Yemen would respond in kind.
He claimed that Saudi Arabia bombed Sanaa International Airport because it refused to lift the blockade on Yemen, and that Riyadh was angered by Sanaa’s response to the attack, although that response itself was limited. “The true equation is Sanaa International Airport answered by an airport in Riyadh,” he said.
Meanwhile, Military Watch reported that the Royal Saudi Air Force launched a failed cruise missile strike against Sanaa International Airport in Yemen. However, its primary objective — disabling the airport’s runway — was not achieved as a number of British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles missed their targets.
Around ten Storm Shadow missiles were fired from long range by Saudi Eurofighter aircraft in an effort to render the runway unusable, but the strike was reported to have failed to inflict damage severe enough to halt airport operations. The operation represents a significant setback for the European air-launched cruise missile class.
The Storm Shadow was developed jointly by the United Kingdom and France and is designed to penetrate heavily defended airspace before precisely striking high-value targets. Equipped with the BROACH tandem warhead, specifically intended to destroy reinforced infrastructure, the missile has been widely promoted for attacks on bunkers, command centres and airfield facilities.
A coordinated strike involving around ten missiles would expend precision-guided munitions worth roughly 20 million US dollars. These missiles have been used extensively in the fighting in Ukraine, albeit with mixed results, as Russian electronic warfare systems are reported to have achieved significant success against them.
The reported launch profile is also significant. Rather than approaching the target, the attacking aircraft reportedly remained at maximum stand-off range before releasing their missiles. Such tactics minimise the risk to the attacking aircraft, but may also reflect concerns about the threat posed by Yemen’s air defence systems.