Houthis claim drone hit Saudi's King Fahd airport in Dammam

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said Thursday the group launched a fresh drone strike on Saudi Arabia, this time aimed at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, the capital of the Eastern Province. Writing on Telegram, Saree claimed the operation hit its target and snarled air traffic at the airport. There's been no independent confirmation of the damage, and the claim comes straight from the group itself.

It lands in the middle of a fast-moving back-and-forth. The Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen said Thursday its forces intercepted a ballistic missile fired toward the Medina region, with coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki calling the launch the work of a what he described as a terrorist Houthi militia in a post on X. The Houthis, meanwhile, say they knocked down an armed Saudi reconnaissance drone over the Taiz governorate in western Yemen — by their count, the 27th such drone downed since July 3.

The toll is climbing on the ground too. An airstrike by Saudi military aircraft hit a home in western Taiz, killing seven residents including two children and injuring six other minors, according to Iran's Tasnim news agency, which cited Yemen's Health Ministry. Earlier strikes by the Houthis targeted Abha International Airport and Khamis Mushait Air Base, according to the same report.

Tehran is pushing back on claims it's pulling strings. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei called accusations of Iranian meddling from EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas baseless, arguing the bloc is complicit in gross human rights violations against Yemenis through sanctions and an economic blockade. He also denied that Iranian military experts are operating inside Yemen.

Markets were deeply red around the story, with the Nasdaq-100 down 5.38%, the S&P 500 off 3.58% and Germany's DAX slipping 0.98%, while gold rose 1.14%. With both sides trading strikes and interception claims, the next hours will show whether the airport attack draws a Saudi response.