Saudi Aramco headquarters hit in Houthi missile strike on Dhahran

A missile strike has hit the headquarters complex of state oil giant Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, damaging an administrative building and triggering a fresh wave of aerial alerts across Saudi Arabia.

The strike, claimed by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement, hit an office tower inside the sprawling eastern compound on Tuesday. The top three floors of the building sustained damage, though the Saudi Energy Ministry said the resulting fire was quickly contained and caused no deaths or injuries.

The Dhahran complex serves as the operational nerve centre for Saudi Aramco, directing an extensive network of onshore and offshore oil rigs, pipelines, refineries, and export terminals that anchor global energy supplies.

Wave of aerial attacks

The attack in Dhahran forms part of a wider barrage launched across the kingdom over the past week. Houthi military officials said they fired ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and armed drones targeting Aramco facilities in Dhahran, an Aramco refinery in Riyadh, and King Khalid International Airport in the capital.

On Wednesday, loud detonations were heard across Riyadh. The Saudi-led military coalition confirmed it intercepted an incoming ballistic missile fired towards the capital, following a temporary aerial alert issued by domestic authorities.

The strikes have severely disrupted civilian aviation. King Khalid International Airport has been targeted four times recently, including a deadly strike on Saturday that killed 13 people — the highest single-day civilian death toll from cross-border strikes inside Saudi Arabia in a decade. Aviation authorities have shut the capital's international airport until 17 October, prompting commercial airlines to cancel flights into the kingdom.

Houthis issue evacuation warning

Houthi spokesmen declared on Wednesday that their campaign against Saudi infrastructure will continue, warning international shipping firms, foreign workers, and civilians to clear out of airports and energy installations.

The group designated oil sites and transport hubs as legitimate targets, asserting that the attacks are retaliation for Saudi support of Yemeni government forces following the collapse of a fragile peace. Fighting inside Yemen resumed last month amid rising regional frictions between the United States and Iran in the Gulf, ending the relative calm maintained under a United Nations-brokered truce agreed in 2022.

Key targets and reported impacts

For Saudi Arabia, the escalation represents a direct challenge to critical infrastructure and economic diversification plans championed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. While the kingdom has spent heavily on air defence systems, sustained drone and missile salvos continue to test interception capabilities across major population centres and industrial hubs.