Mohammed bin Salman faces most consequential test yet as Saudi Arabia comes under Houthi fire

Mohammed bin Salman is perhaps facing the biggest crisis of his reign, as the Yemen-based group Houthis attack Saudi Arabia, while the Crown Prince of the kingdom fails to garner stronger backing from allies, especially in US President Donald Trump.

Missile and drone attacks by the Houthis have killed nearly 20 people in Saudi Arabia and has closed the country's main airport.

Also Read: Houthis are helping Iran turn Saudi Arabia into a pressure point: Here's how


Multiple flights in Saudi Arabia remain grounded while Indian airlines Air India, IndiGo and Akasa Air have either extended or announced flight suspensions amid escalating regional tensions and disruptions to air travel.

Efforts to get backing from Trump have so far failed to secure direct American intervention, while a new defence pact with Pakistan and Turkey has only been able to provide limited help. Other states in the Gulf have verbally supported Saudi Arabia but not directly joined the armed resistance against the Houthis.

MBS had made a previous attempt to crush the Houthis

Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS, as he is called, had raged war against the group in 2015 but failed to defeat them. The Houthis have grown much stronger over the past decade while MBS, along with a Saudi-backed Yemeni coalition keep attacking.

By targeting infrastructure and disrupting investment events central to Saudi Arabia’s economic ambitions, the Houthis are seeking to pressure MBS to meet their demands in Yemen and push Trump to ease the blockade strangling Iran’s economy, as reported by Reuters.

The Houthis have previously launched massive strikes inside Saudi, especially a 2019 attack on oil giant Saudi Aramco's facilities that had, for the time being, stopped about 5% of oil supply.

Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, triggering a war that descended that ended before a ceasefire was reached in 2022.

Where does Trump stand in all of this

MBS, who has diplomatically and strategically backed Trump's administration is not getting the same thing in return. The crown prince increased Saudi Arabia's promised investments in the United States to $1 trillion last November and also signed a defence agreement. Bloomberg reported that the US administration was being reluctant to involve itself in this crisis and has asked Riyadh not to spark a major new conflict in Yemen as the war in Iran prevails.

The fighting with the Houthis has opened another front in the bigger conflict in Iran, adding to political pressures that the US is facing ahead of the midterm elections. The war has kept global energy prices elevated and driven up fuel costs in the United States, resulting in one of the primary election issues.

According to agencies, military attacks by Riyadh will hardly be able to get rid of the Houthi movement's threat. The militias have survived years of US and Israeli airstrikes. The Houthis intensified their attacks on shipping in Red Sea after Israel attacked Gaza and thereby affected global oil markets.

The US and some other countries are currently providing some defensive and logistical support to Riyadh, but concerns remain large that prolonged military actions could create further escalation in the region and threaten shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

Also Read: Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of encouraging Houthis in latest escalation

The Houthis have not targeted American assets, and probably because direct attacks might risk violation of a ceasefire deal with the United States last year, after Washington struck more than 1,000 sites in Yemen.

The US blockade of Iranian ports, a part of American strategy in the wider Iran war, is also affecting a major chunk of Washington's resources in the region.

Speaking to reporters in Maryland on Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “Obviously the Saudis have come under Houthi attack … and they have a right to defend themselves.”

A broader US-Iran war angle

Iran has provided the Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, with funding, arms, ammunition and training for over the last 10 years, though Iran has denied arming the group in breach of a UN arms embargo.

Despite Iran’s own financial and military pressures from the current situation, the now have Houthis the ability to make their own weapons, with Iranian assistance, according expert interviews by Reuters.

Riyadh on Thursday accused Iran of fuelling a sharp escalation in the Houthis’ conflict with the kingdom, saying Tehran continued to arm and train the Yemeni group.

Speaking at a virtual briefing with reporters, Saudi Arabia’s deputy foreign minister for public diplomacy said Riyadh remained in contact with Tehran, but Iran appeared unwilling to make concessions.

What other geopolitical conflicts has MBS been part of

Mohammed bin Salman’s reign as Saudi'ss de facto ruler has been marked by a series of regional crises, from the earlier Yemen war and the confrontation with Iran to the attacks in 2019 on Saudi oil facilities and a diplomatic rift with Qatar.

The vulnerability of Riyadh's infrastructure was exposed in 2019, when attacks on the Abqaiq oil processing facility and Khurais oil field knocked out roughly half of the kingdom’s oil production. The Houthis claimed responsibility, while the United States and other assessments pointed to Iran.

MBS also faced a regional diplomatic setback in 2017, when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a boycott on Qatar over allegations that it supported extremist groups and maintained close ties with Iran.

Further, Saudi has accused Iran of supporting armed groups, including the Houthis, while the two countries restored diplomatic relations in a China-brokered agreement in March 2023 after a seven-year break.