How the Iran war is ruining Saudi Arabia’s plans

Flames burn at a facility belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco south of Riyadh on October 3, 2026. | AFP via Getty Images As the US-Iran war drags on, the damage is being felt regionally: Saudi Arabia experienced the worst attack in over a decade earlier this month, when Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia struck an airport in the Saudi capital , Riyadh.

The strike killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 300 others.

Saudi Arabia responded with missile attacks on Yemen, striking oil facilities , and the Houthis have launched more strikes of their own, targeting Saudi oil infrastructure .

The dueling strikes are the latest development in a decade-plus of conflict between Saudi and the Houthis, a political and military group that controls part of northern Yemen, which had been on pause until earlier this year after a 2022 ceasefire.

But the Iran war, and Houthi affiliation with Iran’s network of proxy groups, mean the current violence has far-reaching implications for the US, Israel, and the global energy economy.

It also threatens more than just Saudi Arabia’s airports and oil industry: As Gregg Carlstrom , a Middle East correspondent for The Economist, explains, the attacks cut at the heart of the country’s project to evolve into a destination for foreign investment, travel, tourism, and more.

On Monday, the country’s upcoming Future Investment Initiative was postponed until 2027 .

Carlstrom, who is based in Riyadh, spoke with Today, Explained co-host Sean Rameswaram how the attack has been received inside Saudi Arabia, why it comes at an especially bad time for the country, and how President Donald Trump might — or might not — get more involved.

Below is an excerpt of their conversation, edited for length and clarity.

There’s much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts , Pandora , and Spotify .

Can you help us understand how the Houthis have such a presence in the country right now? Are they infiltrating the country? Are they already there? They’re shooting from outside the country.

They’re shooting from Yemen.

The Houthis are a group that’s been around for a few decades.

They were originally a local insurgency in Yemen that was fighting against the Yemeni government.