Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis fired missiles and drones at the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday, drawing U.S. security alerts for the Middle East as President 
Donald Trump cut short a Camp David weekend. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said a first operation targeted sensitive sites in Riyadh and a second targeted Aramco in Yanbu, PTS reported. On Sunday, Iran and the United States traded new threats.
What happened in Riyadh? Explosions were followed by a huge plume of black smoke near King Khalid International Airport. The strikes were the first direct threat to the Saudi capital since a new round of fighting in Yemen began in July, PTS reported. Recent Houthi gains along Yemen's coast have put the group's forces on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
What did the president say about Iran? Iran's leaders should make a deal, rot economically or be wiped out, Trump told a Fox News reporter in a phone call, the Korea Times reported. With Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian expected in New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly, Trump said he would be open to meeting him. Trump also asked "if and when do I blow the entire nation up?", The Hill reported, and Fox News's Trey Yingst said the president was in a "deciding mode".
What has Iran said? Iran's military central command had earlier said any new attack would trigger sustained retaliation against U.S. bases and interests, and that Washington's regional allies would be considered parties to the conflict, the Korea Times reported. The military added that it had information an attack was being prepared, without elaborating. Separately, Iran reiterated on Sunday that it would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the terms of a June interim ceasefire, as it interpreted them, were met. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Iran would have to keep fighting as well as negotiating.
Is Washington joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis? Not for now: Trump vacillated but decided on Sunday not to join Saudi Arabia in joint strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, the Japan Times reported. The question of whether to yield to the Saudi pleas had bedeviled him for two weeks; a decision to go forward could open another front in the war against Iran. The Houthis have reassured the administration that they will not attack U.S. ships in the Red Sea, The Hill reported. Senior Houthi official Mohamed al-Bukhaiti told The Associated Press that the administration had reached out to the group earlier this month.
Figures referenced: Donald Trump. — JudgeMarket.
