The July 13 exchange marked the sharpest Yemen escalation since the 2022 UN-brokered truce, with investors watching oil, the dollar, airline rerouting and Iran-Saudi tensions.
Iran-backed Houthi forces fired ballistic missiles and drones at Abha International Airport in southern Saudi Arabia on July 13 after Saudi-led strikes on Sanaa International Airport, in the most significant escalation in Yemen since a UN-brokered truce in 2022 reduced major hostilities. Saudi air defenses intercepted the projectiles, and no casualties were reported. The Houthis said the strike was retaliation for attacks on Sanaa airport that they said targeted an Iranian Mahan Air flight carrying a Houthi delegation, while the Yemeni government said the Sanaa operation was needed to block the Iranian aircraft. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the Abha attack, called it a proportional response and warned commercial airlines to avoid Saudi airspace. The UN Security Council later held an emergency session on the escalation. For markets, there was no immediate crypto reaction, but investors are being urged to watch oil, the dollar, airline routing and whether the confrontation damages the tentative Iran-Saudi normalization path brokered partly by China in 2023, which could restore a broader Gulf risk premium.