Riyadh air defenses down five Houthi missiles; Taiz strike kills two

Residents in Riyadh heard at least four explosions on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia issued attack warnings for the capital and other areas. The alerts were later lifted without reports of major structural damage.

Saudi authorities stated that air defense systems intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen. Civil Defense officials reported that shrapnel from the intercepted missiles fell on the city, damaging a building, a construction site, and a vehicle.

In the eastern region of Saudi Arabia, defenses downed three additional Houthi ballistic missiles. Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed on social media that a rebel missile hit the headquarters of the Saudi defense ministry in Riyadh directly. The Associated Press could not independently verify that specific claim.

Houthi forces also claimed to have struck the Ras Tanoura refinery in the eastern region with a ballistic missile. Saudi Arabia did not issue a comment regarding the refinery strike, and the claim remains unverified.

In Yemen, the Houthi-run Health Ministry said two people were killed and several others wounded in a late Monday strike on a gas station near Taiz. The ministry accused Saudi-backed government forces of targeting the station. The Yemeni military said its forces launched airstrikes against Houthi positions in the area. Houthi-controlled Al-Masirah TV broadcast footage of two body bags and wounded patients at a hospital.

Government forces also launched airstrikes on Tuesday in the Houthi-controlled port city of Mokha and the Dhubab district near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. An eyewitness in Mokha told the AP she heard two explosions around 4 a.m., one near the port. She requested anonymity due to fear of reprisal.

At the United Nations Security Council, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, challenged Iran to address nuclear safeguards issues raised more than five years ago. He urged Tehran to grant the agency access to all nuclear sites, including those damaged by military attacks in 2025 and 2026.

Iran’s deputy ambassador Gholamhossein Darzi responded by accusing the council of blaming the victim. He stated that Israel possesses nuclear weapons while the council focuses on inspectors in Iran. U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz called Iran a brutal dictatorship and noted the country's failure to satisfy safeguard obligations. Separately, Iran’s army announced that an oil tanker struck naval mines east of the Strait of Hormuz and caught fire after entering a restricted area. No casualties were reported.