Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman vowed a "serious response" to Houthi attacks on the kingdom's airports and energy infrastructure, speaking at the WPC Energy Congress in Riyadh on Monday.
"The events of recent weeks are serious. Our response must be equally serious," Prince Abdul Aziz said in his inaugural address.
The kingdom faced a wave of attacks over the past week. On Saturday, a Houthi missile struck Terminal 3 of Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, killing 13 people including nationals from Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Sudan and India. On Sunday, a Pakistani resident was killed when a projectile hit Terminal 4. Last Thursday, three Saudis, including a pilot for national airline Saudia, died in two strikes on airport facilities.
King Fahd International Airport in Dammam was also attacked Sunday evening with no reported casualties. Riyadh's airport has been attacked four times in one week.
The Houthis, an Iran-backed movement that controls western Yemen, said they launched the attacks in retaliation for what they call Saudi aggression. On Sunday evening, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea claimed his forces targeted airports in Riyadh and Dammam as well as two oil and gas facilities in Eastern Province in response to 124 Saudi air strikes in Yemen over the previous 24 hours. Sarea warned airlines and passengers against using Saudi airports except for travel to Mecca and Medina, and pledged to "continue their escalating operations deep inside Saudi."
The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a drone and a missile headed toward the south-western city of Khamis Mushait.
Prince Abdul Aziz acknowledged the attacks tested Saudi Arabia's infrastructure and resilience while reassuring attendees of the energy conference about the country's safety. "We, as Saudis, are fearless, combatant and determined people. We shall prove it to the world that whatever we are going through we will overcome it," he said.
UN Secretary General António Guterres called the Saturday attack "deeply shocking" and warned that strikes on civilians violated international law. President Donald Trump said he would "make a decision" about US involvement in Saudi strikes on the Houthis. Iran, which denies arming the Houthis, called for dialogue to resolve the situation.
The escalation follows a breakdown this summer of a four-year informal ceasefire. The conflict has roots in Yemen's 2014 civil war, when Houthis ousted the government from Sanaa, followed by Saudi-led coalition intervention in 2015.