Aramco facility takes debris damage as Saudi Arabia intercepts four missiles

A building belonging to the state oil company Aramco sustained damage in Riyadh's financial district on Sunday after falling debris struck the structure. The Saudi Energy Ministry confirmed that the incident resulted in no casualties at the facility. Witnesses in the capital reported hearing a loud explosion during the morning hours. Several residents described visible damage to the building in the King Abdullah Financial District. They spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

The Saudi-led coalition stated that its air defense systems intercepted two ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles early Sunday. The missiles were targeting Riyadh and other regions within the kingdom. The coalition accused Iran-backed Houthi forces of launching the weapons. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the military spokesperson for the Houthis, claimed in a statement that the group hit Riyadh's financial district. He said the attacks were a response to recent airstrikes on a village and a market in Yemen. Saree stated that those strikes left dozens of people dead or wounded and blamed Saudi Arabia for the actions.

In Yemen, the death toll from airstrikes near the capital Sanaa rose to 44 people, according to Houthi health authorities. The strikes hit homes in the village of al-Shariya, located east of Sanaa, on Saturday. Anees al-Asbahi, spokesman for the Houthi-run Health Ministry, said 40 others were wounded in the attacks. The injured included eight children and nine women. Al-Asbahi noted that 21 of the dead were children and 10 were women. He described the incident as one of the deadliest attacks in the ongoing civil war. Rescue teams continued searching the area for missing individuals, suggesting the toll could rise further.

U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at the White House on Monday. The meeting is part of a series of diplomatic engagements regarding the regional conflict. In a phone interview with CNN on Sunday, Trump stated that the United States is ready to resume striking Iran if necessary. However, he said it is highly unlikely to be required if negotiations progress and the two sides sign a strong agreement. Trump indicated that the U.S. has identified infrastructure targets, including 38 bridges, for potential military action.

The United Arab Emirates National Guard announced that it rescued 22 crew members from a cargo ship that caught fire in the Sea of Oman. All crew members were of Arab nationalities and were in stable condition following the rescue. The National Guard did not identify the specific vessel or specify the cause of the fire. A British maritime security monitor reported that a tanker caught fire northwest of Khasab, Oman, on Saturday. It remains unclear if this was the same incident. In northern Iraq, a drone attack targeted the Khor Mor gas field in the semiautonomous Kurdish region late Sunday. The attack took the facility offline, causing widespread power outages, though no casualties were reported.

In Israel, President Isaac Herzog formally granted opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot the first opportunity to form a new government on Sunday evening. This move marks a step toward challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has served the longest term in Israeli history. Eisenkot, a former military chief, aims to form a coalition following recent elections in a country deeply divided by the wars triggered by the attacks of October 7, 2023. Meanwhile, at least four people, including three children, were killed in central Gaza when a large sandstone slab collapsed onto makeshift tents. Health officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs and Nasser hospitals attributed the collapse to torrential rains. Civil defense workers searched the rubble in Deir al-Balah with bare hands.

The U.S. State Department declared Ibrahim Charara, Lebanon's consul general in Detroit, persona non grata on Sunday. The decision followed a review of social media posts from up to five years ago in which Charara celebrated the 1983 Hezbollah attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut. The department stated that anyone in the United States who justifies terrorist attacks has no place in the country. In Iran, state television reported that three men were hanged in Karaj on Sunday. They were convicted of armed riot and cooperation with the United States and Israel during anti-government protests in January. Iran has hanged more than two dozen people on similar charges in recent months.