US, European groups issue travel advisories after Houthis attack Riyadh airport

US, European groups issue travel advisories after Houthis attack Riyadh airport

REUTERS, JERUSALEM POST STAFF

The US Embassy in Jordan issued a travel advisory on Friday to Americans in the Middle East in light of current hostilities in the region, specifically pointing to the recent Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia's Riyadh airport.

"Iranian-supported Houthis have engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties," the embassy wrote, adding that "the hostilities have the potential to escalate rapidly" and Americans should monitor the situation closely, particularly if they are planning travel to or from the region.

Also on Friday, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency EASA recommended airlines not to operate within additional portions of Saudi airspace after Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Riyadh airport.

In an updated conflict zone information bulletin for Saudi Arabia airspace, which was initially issued on September 30, the EU regulator said recent attacks had demonstrated the ability and intent of the Houthis to strike targets deeper inside Saudi territory, including the capital.

The situation escalated after Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said on Friday that three Saudi nationals were killed and several people were wounded following two attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday.

In a statement on X/Twitter, the General Authority of Civil Aviation said the first attack targeted airport facilities, while the second struck an aircraft belonging to Saudi state carrier Saudia.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Thursday they had attacked the airport with two cruise missiles.

The group also said it had targeted an airport in the southwestern city of Najran, a claim Saudi authorities have not confirmed, and an airbase in Khamis Mushait with ballistic missiles.

The Houthis say they are targeting the kingdom over its support for government forces in Yemen's reignited civil war. Saudi Arabia says it is backing an offensive by Yemen's UN-recognized government to take back territory from the Houthis.

Europe’s War Fever Morphing EU Into Military-Political Bloc, Kremlin Warns

Europe’s War Fever Morphing EU Into Military-Political Bloc, Kremlin Warns

Sputnik

Europe is in the grip of a militarization obsession and intends to turn the EU into a military-political bloc, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

French President Emmanuel Macron posted a video online on Tuesday showing a test launch of an M51.3 strategic ballistic missile to convey what he called a "loud and clear message."

"Europe is obsessed with militarization — with plans to militarize the European Union, an economic bloc, by turning it into a military-political bloc," Peskov told reporters.

The concept of militarizing Europe, rooted in a confrontation with Russia, is a dead end and will lead to nothing good, the spokesman cautioned.

"We and President [of Russia Vladimir Putin] have repeatedly said this, we are taking all necessary measures to ensure our national security at a strategic level," Peskov said, adding that Russia is monitoring the situation with the plans in question to militarize Europe and is always on alert.

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Putin Holds Meeting With Iranian President Pezeshkian in Turkmenistan

Putin Holds Meeting With Iranian President Pezeshkian in Turkmenistan

Sputnik

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a separate meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during his visit to Turkmenistan, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Thursday.

Russia is ready to do everything possible to help Iran settle the conflict in the Middle East, the Russian president said.

"Of course, the most pressing issue today is the situation in the region. We know that Iran is making genuine efforts to end the conflict," Putin sais

Other Statements by Vladimir Putin

Russia-Iran relations are developing positively

Trade between the two countries grew by more than 21% by the end of 2025, and this trend has continued through the first seven months of the current year

Putin asked Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to convey his best wishes to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei

The prior meeting between Putin and Pezeshkian took place in early September in Bishkek on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

Hurricane Shuts 63% Of US Gulf Oil Output, Threatens Refineries; Jefferies Warns Of "Fuel Supply Event"

Hurricane Shuts 63% Of US Gulf Oil Output, Threatens Refineries; Jefferies Warns Of "Fuel Supply Event"

TYLER DURDEN

Summary:

• Hurricane Isaias Landfall Forecasted For Late Friday/early Saturday 
• Major US Refineries In Hurricane's Projected Path 
• 63% Of US Offshore Gulf Oil Output Shut 
• 25% Of US Offshore Gulf Oil Output Shut As Hurricane Isaias Nears, Threatens Refineries

Hurricane Isaias Shutters 63% of US Gulf Oil Production

Bloomberg cites data from the Marine Minerals Administration showing US Gulf offshore oil producers have halted about 1.28 million barrels per day, equivalent to shutting in 63% of regional output.

Natural gas shut-ins reached 1.127 billion cubic feet a day, equivalent to 57% of the region's production.

By noon Central Time, workers from 121 offshore platforms had evacuated, while four rigs had moved outside Hurricane Isaias' cone of uncertainty.

This is a massive temporary hit to US crude supply. For NatGas, the national production impact is much smaller.

The next big issue is that refineries may see a decline in crude supply as offshore platforms reduce flows. Any refinery outage from storm-related damage would reduce fuel product production as a global refining crisis deepens.

Jefferies consumer staples analyst Kaumil Gajrawala warned clients ealrier today: "Hurricane Isaias is a fuel supply event hitting a system already stretched by the Iran war. ~25% of Gulf crude output is shut in (~4% of US production), but fuel inventories are low and diesel is $6.30 vs. $3.68 a year ago. A small disruption now has outsized price consequences. The second-order effect is freight cost, which favors asset-light models like KO (Buy), where bottlers carry the fleet and fuel exposure." 

As we noted earlier today, any abrupt westward shift in the hurricane's cone of uncertainty would put major refineries at risk, including Chevron's Pascagoula refinery on Mississippi's Gulf Coast. It refines 369,000 barrels of crude a day into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and premium base oils.

Landfall impacts for portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle are expected late Friday into Saturday morning.

25% Of US Offshore Gulf Oil Output Shut As Hurricane Isaias Nears, Threatens Refineries

Hurricane Isaias forced offshore oil and natural gas producers in the Gulf of America to halt a sizable amount of production as the Atlantic's first hurricane of the season churned toward the coast, with potential landfall impacts across portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle.

Isaias had sustained winds of 75 miles per hour and was about 460 miles south-southwest of the Mississippi River mouth overnight, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Producers with offshore rigs have already shuttered 25% of crude output and 16% of NatGas production and evacuated workers from eight platforms and two rigs.

Models increasingly point to landfall late Friday night or early Saturday morning east of major energy assets onshore and offshore in Mississippi and Louisiana. 

An abrupt westward shift in the hurricane's cone of uncertainty would put major refineries at risk, including Chevron's Pascagoula refinery on Mississippi's Gulf Coast. It refines 369,000 barrels of crude a day into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and premium base oils.

The disruption to offshore oil and NatGas rigs comes as a global refining crisis deepens, and there is little room for error in the US, as refineries operate near full capacity.

Enki Research risk modeler Chuck Watson said that oil and NatGas outages would likely last no more than a week if the forecast track holds.

Houthi strike hits passenger plane at Riyadh's main airport

Houthi strike hits passenger plane at Riyadh's main airport

Neta Bar

A passenger plane has been hit by Houthi fire at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Reuters reported Thursday, citing footage that circulated on social media.

According to the report, the aircraft was empty and parked at a terminal gate when it was apparently struck by a ballistic missile fired from Yemen. The Saudis said they intercepted two ballistic missiles launched at the kingdom earlier in the day. The strike disrupted air traffic at the busiest airport in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi government said Wednesday that Houthi attacks had struck both King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport in the country's south. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, said the militia struck both airports using missiles or drones.

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis announced Wednesday that it responded to the airport attacks by striking dozens of Houthi military targets in Yemen, including missile storage sites and command centers. The Houthis did not immediately respond to that claim.

A senior Pakistani military official, speaking anonymously to discuss operational matters, told The New York Times that Pakistani Air Force fighter jets were used in strikes against the Houthis. This marks the first time one of the Mecca Pact (a Saudi-led Islamic military coalition) member states has come to the defense of a fellow member.

The attacks mark a sharp escalation in Yemen's civil war, which had been paused since a 2022 ceasefire but reignited in recent weeks. The Houthis seized stretches of the Red Sea coast last month, including territory along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, prompting a Saudi-backed counterattack that retook ground around the strait this week. Still, the Houthis have pressed gains elsewhere, surrounding Yemen's third-largest city, Taiz, and the fighting has displaced 200,000 people since it resumed.

The stakes for Saudi Arabia are tied to the Mecca Pact, a mutual defense treaty it signed with Turkey and Pakistan this summer, though Turkey has not yet ratified it. Turkey said Wednesday it would send mainly defensive and technical support, including equipment, intelligence sharing and weapons systems, while Pakistan has already flown military equipment to Aden and deployed troops inside Saudi Arabia to help secure its borders.

A US official and a Syrian defense official said Damascus was weighing its own options for military support, from defensive aid to an offensive role against the Houthis, even as a Syrian diplomat stressed that Syria's immediate focus remains rebuilding after its own civil war.