EU responds to Houthi attack on Saudi airport: ‘Iran’s proxies pushing the region into a spiral of violence’

An ambulance is parked outside King Khalid International Airport after several people were killed and wounded in an attack on the airport that forced a suspension of operations, according to Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 10, 2026, in this screengrab obtained from social media video. (Social Media/via Reuters)
An ambulance is parked outside King Khalid International Airport after several people were killed and wounded in an attack on the airport that forced a suspension of operations, according to Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 10, 2026, in this screengrab obtained from social media video. (Social Media/via Reuters)

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen calls the deadly Houthi attack on Riyadh airport a “dangerous escalation” and says the Iran-backed group must halt strikes on civilian targets.

“These attacks by Iran’s proxies are pushing the region into a spiral of violence. They are destabilizing crucial global transport and energy nodes with shockwave sent through the world. These murderous attacks at civilians must stop at once,” von der Leyen writes, adding the EU stands in “solidarity with Saudi Arabia.”

The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas subsequently denounces the attack as an “appalling act of terror.”

“There can be no justification for indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure,” she posts.

Kallas says she is in close contact with her Saudi counterpart and insists enhancing cooperation between an EU naval mission in the Red Sea and a Riyadh-led maritime coalition is “vital.”

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