Houthi Missile Strikes Saudi Aramco HQ in Dhahran — SkimNews
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- A ballistic missile hit an Aramco administrative building in Dhahran, igniting a limited fire with no injuries or deaths, according to Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry
- The Aramco complex hosts a major operations centre overseeing oil rigs, pipelines, refineries and export terminals; a company source told Reuters the top three floors of an office tower were damaged
- Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree had explicitly threatened a "harsh and painful" response days earlier, naming the Aramco headquarters in Dhahran and a Riyadh oil refinery as potential targets
- Riyadh's international airport has received four strikes in a week, including a Saturday missile that killed 13 people — the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in a decade
- Saudi Arabia resumed its Yemen military campaign after the Houthis swept to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical energy route that grew more vital after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in February
- Washington has rebuffed Saudi efforts to bring the U.S. directly into the war against the Houthis, while Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi offered to mediate
Why it matters: The Houthis struck a symbol of Saudi economic power — Aramco's headquarters, which oversees the kingdom's entire oil infrastructure — while Washington refuses to enter the war directly. Riyadh now faces a widening missile campaign against its most strategic assets largely on its own, with Iran positioning itself as a mediator.
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