Trump must answer Houthis airport strike and punish Iran for its chaos

The death toll from the Houthis’ weekend attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport has risen to over 15, including one American — and Iran’s Yemeni partner shows no signs of stopping its assaults.The Islamic Republic of Iran is escalating against Saudi Arabia with two goals.Tehran hopes its proxy attacks on America’s partners will indirectly pressure Washington into ending the ongoing blockade of Iran and prevent future American airstrikes.Locally, the Houthis themselves want Riyadh to end its support for Yemen’s internationally recognized government, or IRG, which is fighting the group in a civil war that reignited this summer after four years of relative peace.Iran deploys the Houthis — a radical Shiite group that chants “death to America” — as a tool in Tehran’s ongoing conflict with the United States.President Donald Trump must respond to the group as a core element of Iran’s strategy, not a separate conflict.In late August, the US Treasury targeted Iran’s aviation sector under Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign meant to financially isolate the regime in Tehran.Secretary Scott Bessent pledged, “All the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world.”Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned regional countries that if they cooperate with American efforts to block Iranian aviation, “their airports will have no flights either.”Now, Houthi attacks have stopped operations at King Khalid International Airport until at least Oct.17.Yahya Saree, the group’s military spokesman, reiterated calls for airlines to avoid Saudi airports after the Houthis’ latest attack on Monday.Saree excepted the “airports and airspace” of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, despite recent Houthi attacks on both of them.The Houthis homed in on Riyadh’s major airport after Yemen’s IRG, with Saudi support, launched a counteroffensive on Oct.

5.That came after the Houthis seized Yemen’s e...