Yemenis and Iranians escalate, and Trump will have to make a decision. The third devastating attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh this Saturday immediately created chaos in air infrastructure, international panic, and a string of urgent security responses. A missile hit the domestic terminal complex of the Saudi capital’s airport, killing 12 people and injuring more than 300. Another projectile fell near Dammam airport in the east of the country. The Civil Aviation Authority identified that among the dead are four Saudis, two Bangladeshis, one American, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian, and one Sudanese. The attack exposed serious security failures, Saudi Arabia’s early-warning system issued no alert before the impact. Major international airlines, including Kuwait Airways, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Lufthansa, Air India, FlyDubai, and Pakistan International Airlines, interrupted and canceled their routes to the country, some suspending operations until next Monday. This is exactly the Houthis’ goal: squeeze the Saudi economy hard enough to put Trump in a position where he eases blockades and sanctions on Iran. We’re talking here about cross-pressures from the Saudis on Trump. Despite the strong retaliation rhetoric and the military escalation in Yemen and the Red Sea intensifying, analysts note that the Saudi government’s immediate official reaction on internal state channels took a cautious tone, focusing on technical assessment of the damage before launching another massive wave of counter-attacks. Is the ferocity of the Yemeni attacks making the Saudis rethink their actions? I don’t think so. When the Saudis decided to escalate against the Houthis, they were obviously already factoring in missile strikes on petrochemical, port, and airport infrastructure. But how long can the country go without exporting and without flights at its main airport? Another point: with the deaths, what position will neighbors like Turkey and Pakistan take? The Yemeni threats are already on the table today. Houthi military spokesmen publicly declared that any foreign force landing on Saudi soil to support the kingdom will be considered a hostile force and a legitimate target for their ballistic missiles and drones. Iran also escalated its attacks and expanded them geographically, hitting commercial ships and oil tankers beyond the Strait of Hormuz, reaching the Gulf of Oman and waters near Qatar. This has raised new fears of global fuel shortages and put U.S. and allied fleets back on alert. With this, Iran is solidifying control over the port zone of the Emirates and also Oman, showing it will not accept any land bypass of its exclusion zone in Hormuz. Today’s attack triggered an immediate reaction in Washington. President Donald Trump publicly said he is evaluating whether the U.S. will join the Saudi attacks against the Houthis in Yemen directly. Trump stated the White House will make a decision and is moving very quickly. In the last 48 hours, the Saudi Air Force carried out large-scale operations with more than 59 airstrikes and bombed more than 130 Houthi military targets in Yemen, including positions in Sanaa, Saada, Hodeidah, Al-Jawf, and Marib. According to the Saudis, the destroyed targets include missile depots, launch platforms, and command centers. Read more: global21.substack.com/p/yeme…