Missile Strikes Aramco Headquarters Tower in Dhahran, Company Source Says. Aramco Has Not Commented

Since the Houthis began firing ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi sites a week ago, the targets have been airports and the capital. On Tuesday night local time, Oct. 13, the target was the company that funds the kingdom.

A company source said a ballistic missile struck an office tower in the Saudi Aramco complex in Dhahran, in the Eastern Province. The top three floors were damaged, the source said. That source and two other people with knowledge of the matter said the building was on fire.

Aramco has not commented. The accounts differ on how much happened. In a separate account, one person with knowledge of the matter said the fire had since been put out. It was not yet clear whether the building took a direct hit or debris from intercepted projectiles.

Four sources said an evacuation order had been issued for the building. Six sources reported loud booms near the complex earlier in the evening.

What the complex is

The Dhahran campus is the administrative center of the Saudi oil industry. It hosts a major operations center for Aramco, which oversees the kingdom's onshore and offshore rigs, pipelines, refineries and export terminals. No source has reported damage to production or exports.

The warning that came first

The strike followed a threat. Earlier Tuesday the Saudi-led coalition warned civilians to stay away from the Yemen Petroleum Company's Sabah central station, a fuel depot on the outskirts of Sanaa. The Houthi-run Al-Masirah television said the station was attacked.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree promised a "harsh and painful" response to any strike on Sanaa. He said targets could include the Aramco headquarters in Dhahran and an oil refinery in Riyadh. The group also renewed warnings to oil workers in Saudi Arabia to stay away from sites that could be targets.

The coalition said in an evening statement that it hit the Sabah station and other sites in Sanaa, Hodeidah and Dhamar. It called this an operation aimed at "neutralizing the capabilities of Houthis" to threaten Saudi Arabia, Yemen and international waterways. The coalition said the group uses those sites to supply its missiles and drones.

The Yemen Petroleum Company disputes the framing. It said the depot held no petroleum stocks and that targeting it did not affect reserves or supply chains. Residents in Sanaa still reported long lines at gas stations, according to the Daily Sabah.

Saudi response and air defense

The coalition said fragments of a missile it intercepted over Dhahran fell on a residential area. It gave no further detail. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said a ballistic missile aimed at Dammam was intercepted and destroyed. Saudi authorities also reported drones and missiles intercepted over Riyadh and the south.

In Riyadh, an emergency alert told residents the city was "facing a hostile aerial threat." A powerful blast followed shortly after.

The Saudi cabinet, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said before the Aramco strike that the Houthis would face consequences for their repeated attacks. The cabinet has not said what those consequences are.

The air defense record is itself under review. The Saudi military is investigating how missiles and drones got through to King Khalid International Airport on Saturday, Oct. 10. That strike killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 300. It was the deadliest attack in the kingdom in a decade.

The Houthi position

The Houthis frame the campaign as retaliation for Saudi backing of Yemeni government forces in the country's reignited civil war. Saudi Arabia resumed its military campaign last week to reverse Houthi gains from last month, when the group swept down the Red Sea coast to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. A government offensive pushed the Houthis off the area closest to the strait. The group remains nearby and has made gains of its own around Taiz this month.

The geography raises the stakes. Bab el-Mandeb has become a more vital route for Saudi and other global energy supplies since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz at the start of the Iran war in February. A kingdom that has lost its Gulf export route now has a threatened Red Sea route and a damaged corporate nerve center.

What is still unknown

Aramco has not said whether the building was hit directly or by debris, how bad the damage is, or whether anyone was hurt. No source has reported casualties at the complex. The Houthis had named the headquarters as a possible target, but the sources describe no confirmed claim of responsibility for the strike.

The next fixed marker is the Saudi cabinet's promised response. Whether Riyadh answers by widening strikes beyond Sanaa, Hodeidah and Dhamar is the open question as the Houthis' threats now extend to the Riyadh refinery.