Middle East Insider · Issue 061 · Wednesday, October 14, 2026

The Hit on Aramco

Good morning. A Houthi missile struck Saudi Aramco’s headquarters complex in Dhahran overnight and set an office tower on fire, and the coalition intercepted more missiles over Riyadh, where four people were wounded by debris. The President, at a rally in Alaska: “Wait until you see what we do to Iran.” Also in this edition: Iran’s plan for the strait before the American vote, Israel thirteen days from its election, and four new Forum pieces.

A Houthi missile hits Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran. Riyadh intercepts more missiles, four are wounded by debris, and the President says of Iran: “We’ve had it.”

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said on Wednesday that an administrative building belonging to Aramco in Dhahran was attacked overnight, causing a “limited fire” and “no casualties or fatalities” (AFP). A company source told Reuters that a ballistic missile hit the headquarters complex and that an office tower’s top three floors were damaged; the complex houses a major operations center (Reuters).

In Riyadh, debris from two intercepted cruise missiles wounded four people, two women, a man and a child, and damaged 15 homes, the Saudi Civil Defense said; explosions were heard just before midnight. On Wednesday morning the coalition said it intercepted a ballistic missile fired toward the capital (Arab News). The Houthis’ military spokesman, Yahya Saree, claimed strikes on Aramco in Dhahran, King Khalid International Airport and Aramco’s Riyadh refinery with “a large number of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones,” and said attacks on Saudi airports and oil facilities “will continue in the coming days” (AFP). Riyadh has confirmed only the Dhahran building.

The coalition said its strikes in Yemen hit fuel sites the Houthis use to sustain the war: “the Al Sabaha central station in Sanaa, underground strategic fuel reserves and storage facilities and fuel and dedicated fuel-loading and unloading berths in Hodeidah, Sanaa and Dhamar” (The National). The Saudi cabinet said: “The Kingdom will not allow any threat to its security or to freedom of maritime navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait” (AP). Riyadh’s airport stays closed until October 17 (Khaleej Times).

The President told a rally in Wasilla, Alaska, on Tuesday night: “Wait until you see what we do to Iran,” and “We’ve had it” (Times of Israel). The war, he said, will “end very soon” (Reuters). Asked earlier whether the United States would join Saudi strikes on the Houthis, he said: “I’d love to tell you, but I’m not going to tell you that” (CBS News). Washington has provided intelligence, targeting and planning for the Saudi campaign and has held off on strikes of its own (AP). Pakistan’s prime minister said on Wednesday that his country “stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Saudi Arabia” under the Makkah defense pact (Arab News).

Brent crude settled Tuesday at $105.69 a barrel, down 0.9 percent from Monday’s settlement, the highest since September 15; West Texas Intermediate rose to $94.14, its highest close since September 24 (Reuters). Brent rose again in early trading on Wednesday (Reuters). The national average for gasoline is $4.33 a gallon and for diesel $6.30 (AAA).

The Houthis hit Aramco’s headquarters hours after the President said he would not forget their attacks. Saudi air defenses are stopping most of what is fired, but debris is falling on homes and a missile reached the complex that houses the company’s operations center. Washington has given Riyadh targeting and intelligence and kept its own aircraft on the ground. Iranian officials told Reuters that the aim in the strait is to keep oil high until the American vote; the missiles at Aramco serve the same policy. The President’s warning should be followed by strikes on the launchers, the depots and the supply lines from Iran, flown with the Saudis. The blockade should hold.

MEF Online, Tom Barrack Will Demolish Trump’s Legacy (Oct 13): Michael Rubin argues that Tom Barrack, the ambassador in Ankara and envoy for Syria and Iraq, has reworked American policy in Turkey’s favor, from the F-35 to a waiver for the S-400, and that the consequences will be laid at the President’s door.

MEF Online, France Will Soon Call Out the Army to Stop the Barbarians (Oct 13): Giulio Meotti on the Paris riots: 761 police officers and gendarmes injured, schools closed, and a poll in which 55 percent of the French say they approve. He argues the suburbs’ Islamist gangs, not students, took control.

MEF Online, Morocco Turns Israeli Weapons Technology Into Defense Industry as Algeria Watches (Oct 13): Amine Ayoub reports that Rabat is moving from buying Israeli systems to building them, with deliveries planned from March 2027, while Algeria, armed by Russia, keeps backing the Polisario.

Focus on Western Islamism, A Pro-Khomeini Imam’s Campaign Against El-Sayed (Oct 13): Mahyar Entezari documents a Dearborn cleric loyal to Iran’s rulers who preached against Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee from a pulpit whose institute lists $989,058 in government grants.

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Iranian officials tell Reuters the aim in Hormuz is to keep oil high until the American vote, two more ships are hit and the Guards claim a third sank, Tehran threatens to reconsider relations with Britain, and the Fairford statement grows to 34 governments.

The strait. Two senior Iranian officials told Reuters that Tehran has adopted new tactics against shipping in the strait. One said: “The aim is to frustrate efforts by the United States and its allies to bring down global oil prices.” Another: “It will be complete closure soon.” An American military official said the Guards now use unarmed spotters in small boats to call in targets, and that American forces ordered the crew off one such dhow last week and sank it (Reuters). The British maritime trade office reported a container ship and a tanker struck by unknown projectiles in the strait on Tuesday. The Guards’ navy claimed on Wednesday that a container ship carrying more than 2,500 containers sank south of the strait after hitting a mine; it named no ship (Iran International).

Tehran. Iran executed Ali-Sina Mostafavi, a mountaineer from Kerman convicted of armed attacks during the war and accused of acting in support of Reza Pahlavi and Israel (Reuters).

Britain. Iran summoned the British ambassador on Tuesday; a Foreign Ministry official, Alireza Yousefi, demanded evidence for the Fairford accusation and warned that Tehran would “seriously reconsider” relations if London did not provide it (Iran International). The statement recognizing Britain’s finding against the Revolutionary Guards now carries the United States and 33 other countries and the European Union’s high representative (JNS). Seven men remain on bail (Counter Terrorism Policing) and none has been charged (BBC).

Netanyahu says Iran is working to stage an attack to sway the October 27 vote, Eisenkot calls him a liar, Shas sets a draft-law condition for joining any government, a new poll puts his bloc at 57, and the army kills a Hamas commander who held hostages.

The election. Asked on Channel 14 on Tuesday night about reports that Iran is trying to orchestrate an attack to influence the vote, Netanyahu said: “I can tell you that’s right. Just right. They want to do it directly or via one of their proxies” (Times of Israel). Defense Minister Israel Katz said the same evening that Israel is detecting such attempts and that anyone who attacks “before or after the elections” will “pay the heaviest price” (Israel National News). Gadi Eisenkot replied that Netanyahu is “a liar” who is “dangerous to Israel” and “in a complete panic” (Times of Israel). Aryeh Deri said on Wednesday: “There will be no government in Israel with Shas’s support or participation unless the status of yeshiva students is regulated” (Times of Israel). A Direct Polls survey for i24 taken Tuesday gives the coalition bloc 57 seats, down from 60, the opposition 50 and the Arab parties 13 (i24); the Forum’s poll of polls stands at 55, 52 and 13.

Iran. Axios reports that the President told Netanyahu to “go ahead and get ready” without committing, that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Central Command’s leadership are among the strongest backers of resuming strikes, and that a White House official denied the two leaders discussed resuming the war and said the United States will not attack Iran before the midterms (Jerusalem Post).

The north. Elazar Yair Wilensky was buried at noon on Wednesday in Hosen (Walla). The Education Ministry says the route it approved was not in the closed area and that the route as walked is under an army and police inquiry (Ynet). Israeli artillery fired through the night across southern Lebanon, from Bint Jbeil to the Jezzine district (L’Orient Today).

Gaza. The army said a strike in Gaza City on Tuesday killed Mumen al-Ay, “a commander and aide to senior officers in Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade,” who had held hostages and was working “in systematic violation of the ceasefire” (Times of Israel). The State Department, marking a year since the Gaza summit, said: “we are making real progress toward a demilitarized Gaza” (State Department).

Washington. The letter to Health and Human Services from Rep. Chip Roy and eight other House Republicans cites the Forum’s report Hidden Handouts and asks the department to “immediately suspend any awards from the Middle East Forum’s report that are assessed to have an active performance period” and to run “department-wide suspension and debarment reviews” (the letter).

Today, 3 p.m. Eastern, online: Israel Insider with Ashley Perry, the Forum’s weekly update on events in Israel, thirteen days before the vote.

In November the Forum’s briefing on Israel’s next war, and whether the United States can help avoid it, comes to Washington on November 4, Philadelphia on November 5, Baltimore on November 6, Palm Beach on November 18, Miami on November 19 and Broward on November 20 (events page).

I will give private lunch briefings on American policy after the Iran war, noon to 1:30 p.m., in San Francisco on November 10 and Los Angeles on November 13, and will also be in Texas. If you would like to meet, or to host an evening for the Forum, reply to this email.

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