Trump must answer Houthis’ airport strike — and punish Iran for its chaos

Bridget Toomey & Behnam Ben Taleblu

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The death toll from the Houthis’ weekend attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport has risen to over 15, including one American — and Iran’s Yemeni partner shows no signs of stopping its assaults.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is escalating against Saudi Arabia with two goals.

Tehran hopes its proxy attacks on America’s partners will indirectly pressure Washington into ending the ongoing blockade of Iran and prevent future American airstrikes.

Locally, the Houthis themselves want Riyadh to end its support for Yemen’s internationally recognized government, or IRG, which is fighting the group in a civil war that reignited this summer after four years of relative peace.

Iran deploys the Houthis — a radical Shiite group that chants “death to America” — as a tool in Tehran’s ongoing conflict with the United States.

President Donald Trump must respond to the group as a core element of Iran’s strategy, not a separate conflict.

In late August, the US Treasury targeted Iran’s aviation sector under Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign meant to financially isolate the regime in Tehran.

Secretary Scott Bessent pledged, “All the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world.”

Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned regional countries that if they cooperate with American efforts to block Iranian aviation, “their airports will have no flights either.”

Now, Houthi attacks have stopped operations at King Khalid International Airport until at least Oct. 17.

Yahya Saree, the group’s military spokesman, reiterated calls for airlines to avoid Saudi airports after the Houthis’ latest attack on Monday.

Saree excepted the “airports and airspace” of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, despite recent Houthi attacks on both of them.

The Houthis homed in on Riyadh’s major airport after Yemen’s IRG, with Saudi support, launched a counteroffensive on Oct. 5.

That came after the Houthis seized Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast — including the critical southern chokepoint of Bab al-Mandeb — in mid-September, an advance that Yemeni forces and Riyadh hope to reverse.

However, this weekend’s carnage wasn’t the group’s first strike against Saudi aviation.

In July and August, the Houthis launched attacks on the Abha and Najran International Airports in southern Saudi Arabia — retaliatory strikes after Riyadh hit the airport in Sanaa, the Houthi-controlled capital of Yemen, to prevent an Iranian plane carrying IRGC commanders from landing.

Houthi fighters have launched all these recent attacks using Iranian weapons, deploying lessons learned from years of assaults on Saudi Arabia and on Israel.

An initial Saudi investigation indicates the group targeted King Khalid on Saturday first with a swarm of drones that overwhelmed air defenses, creating an opening for the cruise and ballistic missiles that followed.

The Houthis’ ballistic missiles arsenal comprises carbon copies of Iranian short- and medium-range ballistic missiles; the group relies heavily on Iranian technology and components for its weapons systems.

They replicate Iran’s strategy of using weapons that are cheap to manufacture but costly for enemies to intercept

At the same time, the Islamic Republic is supporting Houthi efforts to expand indigenous weapons production.

The group has invested in diversifying its supply chain and increasing domestic weapons production, using ever more dual-use technologies from China, particularly for drones.

The Houthi war machine has been fueled by Tehran’s steady state sponsorship for more than a decade — allowing the group to build up an arsenal larger than some European militaries.

The group has established de facto rule over the majority of Yemen’s 42 million people, and exploits the population to keep the military effort humming.

By focusing their fire on Yemeni forces and on Saudi Arabia, the Houthis have thus far avoided a direct American response.

However, the attacks on Riyadh’s crucial international airport, and the loss of an American life, may be a bridge too far for Trump — who said Tuesday that “the Houthis are behaving very badly.”

Washington cannot be half in-half out when it comes to answering Houthi aggression.

Trump must increase US support to Saudi Arabia, and to the forces of Yemen’s IRG,  as they fight to drive back the Houthi advance.

When escalation in the Arabian Peninsula began in July, Trump said “the US will hold Iran responsible” for Houthi attacks on Saudi tankers.

Now, this must extend to all Houthi attacks.

Washington cannot allow Tehran to use its proxies to foster chaos without paying a price.

As Trump pursues a policy of maximum pressure against the Islamic Republic, he must do the same against the Houthis.

If not, Tehran will continue to brandish the Houthis as a deadly weapon against the United States and America’s partners.

Bridget Toomey is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Behnam Ben Taleblu is Iran Program Senior Director and Senior Fellow.

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