Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport was open for domestic flights on Wednesday following multiple Houthi strikes on the Saudi capital this month.
A British naval maritime security organization said a projectile ignited a fire aboard a tanker off Oman, but its crew was safe.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Wednesday. Read our full coverage here.
Riyadh airport partially reopens
A limited number of Saudi airlines took off and landed at the country’s main airport on Wednesday, two days after authorities notified airlines that they could resume operations with prior permission.
Saudia and FlyNas were operating flights Wednesday, according to flight-tracking data published by FlightAware. Major carriers, including Lufthansa and Air France, have canceled flights through mid-November.
Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport has been hit multiple times by Yemen’s Houthi rebels this month and shut down on Oct. 10.
The Houthis have acknowledged attacking the airport, claiming without evidence that Saudi Arabia provided military equipment to government forces through the facility.
Projectiles strike two tankers in Persian Gulf
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization said Wednesday unknown projectiles ignited a fire aboard a tanker in the Persian Gulf off Oman and struck another tanker off Iraq in separate incidents.
The first attack occurred 12.6 miles west of the coastal town of Bukha in the Omani province of Musandam, it said.
The UKMTO said the fire was extinguished and the tanker was at anchor, with its crew safe.
The second attack occurred 34.5 miles southeast of Al Faw, Iraq. The tanker's crew is safe while no damage to the tanker or environmental impact has been reported.
The attack was the latest against vessels attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz without coordinating with Iran amid its conflict with the United States.
Houthi drones targeting Saudi Arabia destroyed
Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, said in a social media post Wednesday that five drones fired toward Saudi Arabia were intercepted and destroyed over the holy city of Medina.
The attack was the latest on Saudi Arabia since the resurgence of fighting with the Houthis in mid-July. The Yemeni rebels repeatedly struck targets in the kingdom, including oil facilities and airports, and engaged in fierce clashes with Saudi-backed Yemeni forces in Yemen.
The coalition, in turn, hit the rebel-held areas in Yemen including the capital, Sanaa and provided air cover to a major offensive the Yemeni government launched earlier this month.
Houthi missile hits army camp next to Yemeni airport
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said a ballistic missile struck a military camp adjacent to Yemen's Aden airport in Khor Maksar district.
The Houthis claim the military camp houses a command center for the Saudi-led forces fighting the rebels.
A transportation ministry official in Aden said a civilian airplane had taken off from the airport before the strike, while the departure hall was evacuated.
He said operations in the airport were temporarily suspended and that there was no damage to the tarmac. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.
This is the second time the Houthis claim to have targeted the military camp inside the airport complex in five days and the third this month.
— By Sara El Deeb in Beirut and Samy Magdy in Cairo
France’s Macron makes surprise Saudi Arabia visit
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday arrived in Saudi Arabia for an unannounced visit as part of a regional tour.
Macron is expected to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the kingdom seeks support from allies in the face of attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen.
Macron’s office said he is there to show solidarity and to “continue ongoing efforts to secure oil and gas supplies” from the region.
Iran willing to ‘give diplomacy another chance’
Iran is willing to “give diplomacy another chance” but is fully prepared to defend itself if full-scale war resumes, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in the Financial Times.
Araghchi gave no details of talks with Washington through mediators on Iran’s recent seven-day proposal to end the war and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
He said there was “little reason to expect progress now,” citing what he described as Washington’s unwillingness to advance the talks while threatening further violence.
He warned against renewed U.S. military action, saying: “I can say with complete and utter confidence that it will result in an even greater strategic failure.”
US congressional candidate detained in West Bank
Brad Lander, a Democrat running for a New York seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, was briefly detained by Israeli police on Wednesday as he joined rabbis and other volunteers accompanying Palestinian farmers during the annual olive harvest in the occupied West Bank.
Police gave no reason for Lander’s release, and dozens of other volunteers remained detained, according to Beck Strober, a spokesperson for Protect the Harvest, the group that organized the visit.
Neither Israeli police nor the military responded to requests for comment.
The detentions are the latest incident during this year’s Palestinian olive harvest, which has seen a surge in violence between Israeli settlers and Palestinian villagers harvesting their crops.
Israeli rights group Yesh Din and the Palestinian Farmers’ Union have described this year’s harvest as the most violent in recent history, with hundreds of reported thefts, clashes and arson attacks.
Yemen expands its terrorist list to deny funds to Houthi rebels
Yemen’s internationally recognised government has added 135 bankers, military officials, firms and tankers allegedly involved in oil smuggling to its terrorism list as part of efforts to cut off financing for the Houthi rebels.
Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani on Wednesday called the decision a “significant step” aimed at “cutting off terrorist financing, dismantling the militia’s financial and commercial networks.”
It was not immediately clear how the measures would affect the Houthis’ finances.
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.