Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted drone over Makkah region

Last week, the coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile targeting southern Saudi Arabia and a drone in the Riyadh region. It also reported intercepting a drone over the Makkah region, a claim Saree dismissed as false.

He said the group’s operations were targeting Saudi oil facilities and military bases. The coalition said on October 24 that it had destroyed two Houthi ballistic missiles fired towards Taif and Yanbu. Saudi Civil Defence briefly issued alerts warning of potential danger in Makkah and Jeddah.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia were ongoing, as Tehran sought new regional security arrangements without foreign military involvement. Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan met Iranian officials in Tehran last week in the first high-level contact between Iran and the three countries since August.

Riyadh said the visit was intended to open channels for negotiations and prevent renewed military escalation. The Houthis have intensified attacks on Saudi oil facilities and airports, disrupting flights and oil exports and prompting Saudi air strikes in Yemen.

Yemen has been embroiled in civil war since the Houthis took control of the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. The report also said the United States carried out what it described as defensive strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island overnight, targeting surface-to-air missiles used against US assets.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had downed a US MQ-9 drone near the Strait of Hormuz. A senior Iranian official said mediators were working to narrow differences between Tehran and Washington. The official said Iran’s conditions must be met before the Strait of Hormuz could reopen, and that nuclear talks could begin only afterward.