Residents of Riyadh were given the all-clear after air-raid alerts and reported explosions overnight — the first such warnings for the Saudi capital since Iran-backed Houthis intensified attacks and declared a maritime embargo on the kingdom in July, the BBC reported.
Saudi Civil Defence sent alerts for Riyadh and several other regions late Friday into Saturday local time as the conflict with the Houthis continued to escalate. Journalists from Reuters and AFP reported hearing explosions in the capital. Authorities later said the danger had passed and urged residents to avoid large crowds.
Why the alerts matter now
It was the first time alerts have been issued in Riyadh since the Houthis increased their attacks and declared a “maritime embargo” on Saudi shipping in July. The group recently seized the strategic port city of Mokha and Perim Island, a gateway to a Red Sea route Gulf exporters use toward Asia and Europe.
Houthi military spokespeople have framed naval pressure as retaliation for a Saudi blockade of ports and airports in Houthi-controlled north-western Yemen. Saudi vessels have relied more heavily on that Red Sea stretch for oil exports since the US and Israel’s war with Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, according to BBC reporting.
Oil and shipping knock-on
Last week the Houthis attacked several Saudi oil facilities with drones and missiles, causing fires and temporary operational halts. Those strikes, layered on Hormuz disruption, have pushed petrol and diesel prices higher in many countries in recent weeks.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has personally asked US President Donald Trump to take military action against the Houthis, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, the BBC’s US media partner. Trump has so far declined to involve US forces directly, offering intelligence and targeting support instead, the sources said. A senior Trump administration official told the BBC the US remains in continuous dialogue with Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s government on regional stability.
Diplomacy and the Red Sea
The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting earlier in the week in which Yemen’s government and Saudi Arabia called for firmer action against the Houthis, accusing them of choking the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Council members agreed freedom of navigation in the Red Sea must be maintained to protect global supply chains.
Yemen’s civil war, which began when the Houthis ousted the government from Sanaa in 2014 and widened after a Saudi-led intervention in 2015, has killed more than 150,000 people and left more than 22 million in need of aid, according to UN figures cited by the BBC.
Saturday’s all-clear does not end the underlying risk: capital alerts, port seizures and oil-facility strikes show how quickly the Houthi–Saudi confrontation can pull Riyadh’s domestic sense of security — and global energy markets — back into the same crisis frame.
Based on BBC reporting dated 19 September 2026, with wire corroboration of explosions and alerts.