An administrative building belonging to Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco, in Dhahran was attacked, causing a limited fire, the Energy Ministry said on Wednesday, as fighting between the kingdom and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels intensified.
The ministry said authorities responded to the incident late on Tuesday and took the necessary measures, adding that no injuries or deaths were reported.
A company source earlier told Reuters that a ballistic missile struck the Aramco headquarters complex in Dhahran, damaging the top three floors of an office tower and setting the building on fire.
The complex houses a major operations centre overseeing Aramco’s extensive network of onshore and offshore oil rigs, pipelines, refineries and export terminals.
The Houthis have been launching ballistic missiles and drones at key Saudi sites for a week in retaliation for the kingdom’s support for government forces in Yemen’s renewed civil war.
Saudi Arabia’s international airport in Riyadh has been struck four times, including an attack on Saturday that killed 13 people. The strike was the deadliest in the kingdom in a decade, and further attacks disrupted flights across the country.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition said fragments from an intercepted and destroyed missile had fallen in a residential area in Dhahran, without providing further details.
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Authorities also reported intercepting and destroying drones and missiles over Riyadh and the country’s southern region.
Saudi Civil Defence said four people, including two women, a man and a child, were injured in Riyadh after debris from two intercepted Houthi missiles fell in the capital.
The falling debris also caused limited damage to 15 homes, according to a Civil Defence spokesperson.
The Houthis had threatened a “harsh and painful” response to Saudi-led attacks on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. The group’s spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said potential targets included the Aramco headquarters in Dhahran and an oil refinery in Riyadh.
The group also warned oil workers in Saudi Arabia to stay away from sites that could be targeted.
On Tuesday, the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of attacking Sanaa, while the Saudi-led coalition warned civilians to keep away from an oil depot on the outskirts of the city.
Houthi-run Al-Masirah television reported that the coalition had attacked the Yemen Petroleum Company’s Sabah central station, a fuel depot outside Sanaa.
The coalition said the operation targeted the station and other sites to “neutralizing the capabilities of Houthis” to threaten Saudi Arabia, Yemen and international waterways.
In a statement issued before the attack on the Aramco complex, the Saudi cabinet, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, warned that the Houthis would face consequences for their repeated attacks on the kingdom.
RENEWED CONFLICT IN YEMEN
Saudi Arabia has resumed its military campaign in Yemen in support of the internationally recognised government, seeking to reverse Houthi advances last month along the Red Sea coast towards the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The strait, which forms the southern entrance to the Red Sea, has become increasingly important for Saudi and global energy supplies since the Iran war began in February and Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to the Indian Ocean.
A government offensive launched a week ago pushed the Houthis away from areas closest to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but the group remains entrenched nearby and has made gains around the city of Taiz this month.
Saudi Arabia has been seeking greater support from its allies for the campaign against the Houthis and to help counter their missile and drone attacks.
However, Washington, Riyadh’s strongest ally and longstanding security guarantor, has so far rejected Saudi efforts to draw it directly into the conflict against the Houthis.
The renewed fighting in Yemen has emerged as an extension of the wider US-Iran war, which began with US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.
Iran, Saudi Arabia’s longstanding regional rival, has offered to mediate between Riyadh and the Houthis, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday. The ministry reiterated the offer on Monday.
