Saudi says three killed at airport as Yemen war expands

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia said on Friday that three people were killed including a pilot were killed in attacks on Riyadh's international airport, after Yemen's Ansar Allah claimed a series of attacks targeting the facility.
Jasem Mohamed al Budaiwi, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), expressed his condemnation of the targeting of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The security of Saudi Arabia is an integral part of the security of the GCC member states, emphasizing the Council's absolute support for the Kingdom in all measures it takes to maintain its security, protect its resources, and safeguard its territorial integrity.
The conflict between the Ansar Allah and Yemen's Saudi-backed government has widened, with the Iran-backed fighters staging repeated attacks on Saudi targets since they began a lightning offensive just across the border.
Numerous flights at Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport were delayed or cancelled, while the airport advised travellers of the 'necessity' to contact airlines before their trips.
The kingdom's civil defence agency also said 'interception debris' had damaged a kindergarten and a medical complex in Riyadh. It did not say if there were casualties there or provide details of the damage.
Meanwhile, the US military is drawing up options for renewed large-scale strikes against Iran, including an intensive three-day campaign targeting missile and drone facilities, even as President Donald Trump has ruled out renewed attacks before the November 3 midterm elections.
The Pentagon, acting on Trump’s orders, has developed options to strike Iran’s missile and drone arsenal, energy facilities and other military installations, The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing American officials.
Potential targets include missile and drone stockpiles rebuilt by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) since the early stages of the war, as well as energy infrastructure, Revolutionary Guard command posts and headquarters.
The latest preparations were first reported by Axios, which said the Pentagon had instructed US Central Command to complete preparations for a possible resumption of major combat operations. No final decision to launch strikes has been made.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Friday at a regional summit in Turkmenistan that peace negotiations will only succeed without 'pressure and threats', with the months-long Middle East war locked in a stalemate.
'Dialogue holds meaning and a chance of success only when based on mutual respect and mutual commitments, and when devoid of pressure and threat,' he said during his speech at the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit.
'Negotiation conducted in the shadow of force is not negotiation, it is imposition and coercion,' he said, warning that sanctions on Iran would affect 'regional trade, connectivity, energy, and order.'
The comments came as Pezeshkian on Monday said talks with the United States to end the war that began in late February were worthless and only resulted in renewed attacks.
'With an enemy that everyday resorts to assassination, sanctions, pressure and threats, and that breaks its commitments, negotiations are meaningless,' he noted.