Iran war live: 12 killed in Riyadh, Saudi-led coalition vows to respond

By Fiona Kelliher

• Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority says 12 people were killed and 309 injured in the latest Houthi attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid airport, as the Saudi-led coalition vows to respond.

• The United States, Qatar, Egypt and Oman are among countries that have condemned the deadly attack.

• Following the attack, US President Donald Trump said he would “take a look” at joining Saudi Arabia in striking the Houthis and that he plans to call Saudi Prime Minister Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

• Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says a supertanker hit a naval mine while transiting an “illegal” route through the Straight of Hormuz, while US Central Command said it “disabled” a commercial cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman.

• Iran calls for climate justice over environmental damage caused by US-Israeli attacks

  Shina Ansari, head of Iran’s Department of Environment, says this year’s US-Israeli attacks on fuel storage tanks and facilities in the southern Iranian city of Asaluyeh have caused massive air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

  According to Iran’s IRNA news agency, Ansari was speaking at a conference in Tehran on ecocide and silent war crimes.

  She was quoted as saying that the US-Israeli attacks in Asaluyeh released about 904 tonnes of particulate matter, 4,700 tonnes of volatile compounds and more than 13,000 tonnes of sulphur oxides while 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide entered the atmosphere.

  Asaluyeh sits along Iran’s southern coast and anchors the country’s petrochemical and natural gas industries. It is the gateway to the South Pars gasfield, part of the world’s largest gasfield spanning 9,700sq km (3,745sq miles).

  Ansari also noted that destroying energy infrastructure not only threatens public health but also undermines national efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the environment. She called for climate justice and international accountability for environmental damage caused by conflict.

  
  

  Seven air strikes reported north of Yemen’s Houthi-held capital, Sanaa

  Houthi-affiliated media have reported seven air strikes on the Harf Sufyan district in the governorate of Amran, north of Houthi-held Sanaa.

  We’ll bring you more on this as we get it.

  
  

  Yemen war deepens as Houthis strike Riyadh airport

  Saudi Arabia has promised to “firmly” retaliate against an attack on Riyadh’s international airport that killed at least 12 people.

  The Saudi-led military coalition that supports Yemen’s internationally recognised government has blamed the Houthis for Saturday’s attack on King Khalid International Airport, describing it as a “full-fledged war crime”.

  The Houthis have not claimed responsibility for the latest strike. But on Sunday, the armed group renewed its warning to ⁠⁠⁠⁠airlines, airport workers and travellers against using ‌‌‌‌Saudi airports, saying the warning should be taken seriously ⁠⁠⁠⁠and the ⁠⁠⁠⁠kingdom “bore responsibility for failed interceptions”.

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• Saudi embassy in Kuwait offers bus transport to Riyadh for citizens after airport attack

  The Saudi embassy in Kuwait says it is organising buses to transport its citizens back to the kingdom whose flights were cancelled due to attacks on Riyadh’s airport.

  In an online statement, the embassy said Saudi citizens wishing to return to Riyadh could do so by bus, provided they had proof of a cancelled flight booking.

  
  

  If you’re just joining us

  Here are the latest developments:

  • Yemen’s Health Ministry warns of “serious health and humanitarian repercussions” facing the city of Taiz, saying the Houthis are obstructing the delivery of essential supplies.

  • Iran’s nuclear technology is safe from external disruptions and cannot be halted by threats, pressure or attacks, according to Mohammad Eslami, the head of the country’s Atomic Energy Organisation.

  • Senior Iranian military commander and deputy army coordinator Habibollah Sayyari says Iranian forces will continue to strike vessels in the Strait of Hormuz “if necessary”, Iranian media report.

  • A child has succumbed to injuries sustained in Israeli gunfire in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, a medical source at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital tells Al Jazeera.

  
  

  World must turn condemnations into action against Houthis: Yemeni official

  A senior official of Yemen’s internationally recognised government has said condemning Houthi attacks on civilians is no longer enough and must now be translated into firm action.

  “It is no longer acceptable for regional and international condemnations of the targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure to remain mere verbal stances, without being translated into firm measures that achieve accountability and deterrence,” Abdullah al-Alimi Bawazir, vice president of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, said in a post on X.

  He said “the terrorist crime” committed by the Houthis in targeting King Khalid airport in the Saudi capital “necessitates a decisive regional and international stance that goes beyond statements of denunciation to practical measures ending impunity”.

  Al-Alimi Bawazir expressed full solidarity with the Saudi leadership and people, praising the kingdom’s role in protecting regional security and international navigation, and supporting the Yemeni people and their government.

  He added that the military campaign against the Houthis, known as the “Dawn of Yemen“, is proceeding to restore state authority and establish peace.

  
  

  All signs point to an escalation, something the region doesn’t want

  By Malik Traina

  Reporting from Doha, Qatar

  The King Khalid international airport is an important hub for commercial aviation, according to flight tracking platforms, and is now the most disrupted airport globally.

  Just in the last four days, these flight tracking platforms estimate that more than 1,341 flights have been cancelled and nearly 850 delayed.

  All signs point to an escalation, and that’s something that people here across the region do not want to see. This was always a concern from the beginning, when the US and Israel launched their attack on Iran: that this could spill over to the region.

  
  
  
  

• Yemen’s Health Ministry raises alarm over ‘near depletion’ of medical, fuel supplies in Taiz

  Yemen’s Health Ministry warns of “serious health and humanitarian repercussions” facing the city of Taiz, saying the Houthis are obstructing the delivery of essential supplies.

  The ministry statement cited by Yemen’s state-run Saba news agency said, “The near depletion of medicines, medical solutions, supplies, and fuel in health facilities threatens the cessation of several life-saving medical services.”

  It said the ministry “demanded the immediate lifting of the siege, the opening of supply routes, and the guarantee of safe passage for patients, ambulances, medical personnel, and humanitarian aid to the city”.

  “The continuation of this situation threatens to disrupt emergency services, surgeries, intensive care, dialysis, and neonatal units, and directly endangers the lives of patients, the wounded, pregnant women, and newborns, given the increasing need for essential health services and medical supplies,” the ministry statement said, according to Saba.