Houthis Deny Hitting Medina Pipeline Section, Claim New Strikes Near Riyadh as Saudi Energy Ministry Says Flows Unaffected

Since the Houthis widened their strikes on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, the East-West pipeline has become the main target to watch. The newest development is a dispute over who hit it on Monday, Nov. 9.

The Saudi Energy Ministry, via the Saudi Press Agency, said the pipeline was targeted in the Medina region on Monday and a small fire broke out. No injuries were recorded and pipeline operations were unaffected, the ministry said.

On Tuesday, Nov. 10, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree rejected that account. He called the allegation of Houthi involvement a "blatant lie" and said the group had instead hit pumping stations along the same pipeline near Riyadh.

Saree said the group carried out four operations with ballistic missiles and drones. He described them as retaliation for Saudi strikes in Yemen, including attacks on a market in Taiz and a village near Sanaa.

Tuesday's claimed salvo

Saree also claimed fresh attacks on King Khalid International Airport, an Aramco facility in Abqaiq and Riyadh's financial district. He said the group hit Saudi troop concentrations in the al-Mudharabah and Ras al-Arah districts, causing "a large number of dead and wounded." None of those claims has been independently confirmed.

Saree also warned investors and companies against "keeping their investments in Saudi Arabia."

The Saudi-led coalition said its air defenses intercepted two Houthi missiles fired toward Riyadh, another toward the south, and a drone over the Eastern Province. Saudi authorities have not publicly assessed any damage from Tuesday's attacks. It is also unclear whether Saree's reference to the financial district points to a new strike or to Sunday's hit on the Aramco office there.

That Sunday strike is documented. Debris from intercepted missiles damaged an Aramco building in Riyadh's King Abdullah Financial District. The Energy Ministry said "falling shrapnel . . . caused minor damage to the building." Images from the scene show a hole in the side of the structure with blackened edges.

Why the pipeline matters

The pipeline runs about 1,200 kilometers from the Eastern Province via Abqaiq to Yanbu on the Red Sea. Aramco puts its capacity at about 7 million barrels per day.

Since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Riyadh has rerouted around 4 million barrels per day through the line, roughly 4% of global oil supply.

The route has already gone down once. Drone strikes in September, which Riyadh blamed on Iraqi militias, halted crude loadings at Yanbu. The Houthis later claimed a strike on a pumping station in October.

The ground war behind the strikes

The Houthis say they are responding to the Saudi-backed offensive in Yemen. Operation Dawn of Yemen, announced Oct. 5 by Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi, has entered its second month. Government forces are trying to reclaim territory in the southwest along the Red Sea and near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Casualty claims from the weekend conflict. The Houthi-run Health Ministry said airstrikes blamed on the Saudi-led coalition killed 33 people, including 13 children and eight women, east of Sanaa on Saturday. A market strike in Taiz province on Friday killed at least 30, and the Houthis and government forces blame each other. Saudi Arabia does not always claim or acknowledge airstrikes inside Yemen, and has not confirmed involvement in the weekend attacks.

Yemeni government spokesman Majed Al-Nuzaili said government forces carried out 982 operations against Houthi targets in the preceding hours. Saree said Saudi warplanes flew 103 airstrikes in 24 hours across Marib, Saada, Hodeidah, Taiz, Lahj and Al-Jawf.

The damage to civilians in Saudi Arabia is also on the record. At least 13 people died and more than 300 were injured in a missile strike on King Khalid International Airport last month.

Open questions

The Saudi account and the Houthi account of Monday's fire cannot both describe the same incident, and the Energy Ministry has not named who it believes was responsible. Riyadh has also not said whether any of Tuesday's claimed hits on pumping stations caused damage. With the pipeline carrying more than half its stated capacity as Hormuz exports remain constrained, a confirmed outage at a pumping station would be the first thing to watch.