Iran offers to mediate between Saudi Arabia and Houthis

Iran’s foreign minister offered on Sunday to help broker talks between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis, a day after a Houthi strike on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport killed at least 12 people.

The offer matters because Riyadh’s main airport, a major connecting hub, is now closed until at least Oct. 17, and one aviation analytics firm put cancellations across Saudi airports at 46.4 per cent on Monday.

Abbas Araghchi made the offer in a phone call on Oct. 11 with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, according to a statement from Araghchi’s office posted on Telegram and reported by The New York Times. “Insisting on a military approach and ignoring a political solution will further complicate the current situation,” the statement said. The New Arab, citing Iran’s foreign ministry, reported that Araghchi said Tehran was ready to help facilitate dialogue between Riyadh and the Houthis.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry confirmed the call and said the two ministers discussed the latest regional escalation and efforts to address it, The New Arab reported. The Saudi statement did not mention a mediation offer and did not say whether anything was agreed. The reports reviewed do not carry a Houthi response.

The call followed what the Times described as the deadliest attack on a Persian Gulf country since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The Times did not name a source for the toll of at least 12 dead. The New Arab reported 309 injured, also without naming a source, and Gulf News gave a slightly higher death toll of 13. Treat the figures as preliminary.

The fighting did not pause. The Saudi-led coalition said another projectile hit a terminal at the airport on Sunday evening, and coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said on X that air defences later destroyed a cruise missile near the site, according to The New Arab. Gulf News, citing the coalition, reported fresh incoming missiles and drones on Monday without saying whether they were intercepted. The Houthis claimed Saturday’s attack.

The Houthi media centre said strikes hit two districts of Sanaa, Hamdan and Thourah, around midnight on Monday and blamed Saudi Arabia, The New Arab reported. Saudi authorities have not publicly commented on those claims.

A NOTAM, an official notice to pilots, shows the Riyadh airport will stay closed until Oct. 17, according to Reuters reporting carried by The Jerusalem Post and Gulf News. Gulf News, citing Reuters, reported that Lufthansa suspended Riyadh flights until Oct. 16 and Air France-KLM extended its suspension to the end of October. The 46.4 per cent cancellation figure comes from Cirium, as cited by Gulf News.

Shipping is also under pressure. India’s foreign ministry said Monday that two Indian sailors were missing after a drone struck the tanker MT Petro Dolphin near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, The New Arab reported. The vessel had 11 Indian crew. A second tanker, the MT Valthera, was hit by an unidentified projectile and caught fire, and its 11 Indian crew were safe. Gulf News noted that responsibility for the incidents has not been independently established. Reuters, as cited by Gulf News, put Brent crude at about $106.80 a barrel on Monday.

Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE leadership, called on Gulf states to coordinate on security and warned that attacks on Saudi Arabia threaten the wider region, Gulf News reported.

For Canadians, the main effect is on travel. Canada’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Jean-Philippe Linteau, said on Oct. 11 that the embassy in Riyadh remains open for consular help, as we reported. Riyadh is a connecting point for travel between Canada and South Asia and the Gulf, so families in Canadian diaspora communities may face rebooking. Canadians should check the federal travel advisory for Saudi Arabia and confirm itineraries with their airlines. Our earlier report on the coalition’s response is here.

What comes next is unclear. The airport closure runs to at least Oct. 17, the coalition has promised a response to the attacks, and neither Riyadh nor the Houthis has publicly accepted Iran’s offer. This story is developing.

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Via The New York Times (republished by GV Wire), The New Arab, Gulf News and The Jerusalem Post. Canada News Media did not read the Iranian or Saudi statements directly.