Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original. Leggi l’originale in italiano
RIYADH – Moments of extreme tension and great concern in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula. A loud explosion was clearly heard in Riyadh near the city center, as confirmed on the ground by journalists from international agencies shortly after Saudi authorities activated alarm sirens.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has once again become the target of aerial and missile attacks carried out by the Houthi rebels, the Iran-backed armed group active in neighboring Yemen.
The Emergency Alert to the Population and the All-Clear
In Riyadh, an emergency alert appeared on the phones and devices of the capital’s residents from the civil defense systems:
“The city of Riyadh is under a hostile aerial threat,” read the official message sent to residents, urging everyone to take shelter indoors or seek safe refuge.
Shortly afterward, the Saudi air defense system announced the lifting of the alert, implying that the threat had been intercepted and neutralized in the skies over the capital or that debris had fallen in uninhabited areas.
Blasts in the East of the Country Near Aramco Oil Sites
The aerial threat was not limited to Riyadh alone. Local witnesses and agency sources reported explosions distinctly heard in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province as well, right near the strategic facilities and refineries of the state oil giant Aramco.
- The precedent and the infrastructure: Aramco’s energy infrastructure has long been the primary target of aerial sorties and suicide drones launched from Houthi positions.
- Impact on markets: The escalation of attacks in the Persian Gulf and the eastern part of the country immediately increases instability in global oil and geopolitical markets.
