Trump says Houthis 'misbehaving' as Riyadh flights halted amid Iran war tensions

Saudi Arabia halted flights at Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport as US President Donald Trump publicly condemned Yemen's Houthi rebels as "misbehaving" over their escalating campaign of attacks, against the backdrop of wider tensions stemming from the ongoing Iran war situation.

Trump's pointed rebuke marked one of his most direct public characterisations of the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, whose attacks have increasingly targeted infrastructure and aviation links across the Arabian Peninsula. The airport closure in the Saudi capital represented a significant disruption to civilian aviation, underscoring the growing reach and ambition of the Houthi campaign against the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia, which has long been a target of Houthi drone and missile strikes, has repeatedly sought to defend its territory and airspace as the conflict in Yemen continues to reverberate across the broader region. The flight halt at Riyadh signalled that the pressure on Gulf states remains acute, even as international diplomatic efforts around Iran's wider role in regional instability continue to unfold.