Saudi-Houthi talks: Iran offers to broker dialogue after attacks

Iran has offered to help start Saudi-Houthi talks, urging Riyadh to choose diplomacy after deadly Houthi missile and drone strikes on Saudi airports.

The offer came during a Sunday evening phone call between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Prince Faisal bin Farhan of Saudi Arabia, according to Tehran.

According to the ministry, Tehran is ready to provide “any form of support” for Saudi-Houthi talks. It also said Iran would back efforts to reach a political settlement.

Araghchi warns against military approach

During the call, Araghchi voiced concern over rising tensions in the region. He warned that relying on military action while ignoring a political solution would only make the situation harder to resolve.

In his view, force cannot settle the region’s crises. For that reason, he urged both sides to give political solutions greater weight.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry confirmed the call and said the two ministers discussed the latest escalation and ways to address it. However, the Saudi statement gave no details of any diplomatic initiative or agreement.

Despite their long rivalry, Riyadh and Tehran still keep their embassies open under a 2023 deal brokered by China. That agreement restored relations after a seven-year break.

Attacks push Saudi-Houthi talks up the agenda

The offer came as fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis intensified. A Houthi missile that slammed into Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Saturday left 12 dead and over 300 wounded.

Then the coalition led by Riyadh said the airport came under fire again on Sunday evening. According to spokesman Turki al-Maliki, a projectile hit Terminal 4 and set it ablaze. Later, Saudi air defences shot down a cruise missile close to the airport.

Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said that attack killed one Pakistani resident and injured 11 people. Abha airport in the south of the kingdom has also come under fire.

At an energy congress in the capital, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told delegates the kingdom was safe. Still, he said the recent events were serious, and Saudi Arabia’s response must be “equally serious.”

Late on Sunday night, the Houthis reported air raids on Hamdan and Thourah, two districts of Sanaa. They blamed Saudi Arabia but gave no further details.

Those raids came as coalition and Yemeni government troops stepped up their push against Houthi positions around Sanaa, Taiz and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Fears of wider conflict

The escalation has also raised the prospect of direct US involvement. US President Donald Trump said the US would decide soon on joining the Saudi campaign against the Houthis. “We’ll make a decision. We move very quickly,” he said.

Separately, India reported two of its sailors missing after a drone hit the tanker MT PETRO DOLPHIN close to the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. In addition, a second tanker, the MT VALTHERA, caught fire after an unidentified projectile hit it.

For now, it remains unclear whether Riyadh will accept the Iranian offer. Yet Saudi-Houthi talks may offer the only route to stop a conflict that now threatens airports, oil sites and shipping across the Gulf.