According to ISNA, Yemeni forces launched a missile attack on Aden International Airport, where Saudi-backed 22nd Brigade is stationed, on Wednesday morning, October 7. Regional security sources reported that several missiles were fired at the airport followed by heavy explosions. Details about the scale of the attack and possible casualties have not yet been disclosed.
According to IRNA's report, on the same night, successive explosion sounds were also heard in Saudi capital Riyadh. According to Hamshahri, following these explosions, flight operations were suspended at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and King Fahd Airport in Dammam; independent flight-tracking websites also confirmed this disruption. No official statement was issued regarding the source of the explosions.
According to Donya-ye Eghtesad, simultaneously, images of widespread fire and smoke were released from Aramco's Rabigh facility on the Red Sea coast. Some Yemeni sources presented these images as the result of attacks on Saudi Arabia, but no independent verification of the cause or scale of the fire was conducted. According to the same report, Yemeni sources stated that in response, operations attributed to Saudi Arabia targeted the Mazirah-Sheirab road in Ibb province and the governorates of Sana'a, Amran, Sa'dah, and Jawf; there is no definitive information on possible damage and casualties in these areas.
According to separate IRNA reports, a member of the political bureau of the Houthi movement (Ansarullah) in Yemen stated that a cessation of fighting would be "most beneficial to Saudi Arabia." The Foreign Ministry linked to Houthi rule in Sana'a countered that Saudi Arabia's "gains" in Yemen are merely "imaginary victories" and that Saudi authorities have dragged the media into a "swamp of lies and hypocrisy." These mutual statements indicate that an information war is continuing beyond the attack allegations.
How the Persian press covered it
| Source (orientation) | Headline / framing |
|---|---|
| ISNA (semi-official) | Reports the event straightforwardly as "missile attack on Aden airport from Yemen," omitting the Riyadh explosions. |
| IRNA (state news agency) | Announces the Riyadh explosion in a separate, brief report; does not specify the cause, covering Houthi and Sana'a statements in separate reports. |
| Hamshahri (Tehran municipality, principlist) | Frames the story around Riyadh, highlighting flight suspensions at the two major airports. |
| Donya-ye Eghtesad (economic daily, technocratic) | Links the event to the Aramco fire images and emphasizes the energy dimension; specifically notes that sources "have not been independently verified." |
Context
The civil war ongoing in Yemen since 2014 between the Houthi movement (Ansarullah) and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government has escalated anew following the collapse of a 2022 ceasefire. This event is a continuation of the October 5 Riyadh-Jeddah attack allegations and the October 4 Aramco attack report; cycles of attack and denial repeat within days.
Repeated attack allegations against Saudi oil infrastructure are being evaluated alongside tensions in the Strait of Hormuz in global energy markets; the East-West Pipeline, one of Riyadh's energy export routes, is among the facilities mentioned as affected by these attacks. This tension also brought Turkey's decision to send additional troops and air defense systems to Saudi Arabia to the fore.
