Houthi forces in Yemen claimed responsibility on Sunday, October 4, for a coordinated ballistic missile and drone attack on a Saudi Aramco oil refinery in Riyadh. A witness reported seeing smoke and fire at the facility on Saturday, October 3. The Houthis stated the strike was retaliation for recent Saudi coalition airstrikes in Sanaa and other Yemeni provinces.
This incident follows a series of military actions in the region. Last week, Houthi forces claimed to have targeted Aramco facilities in Yanbu. Concurrently, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that a crude oil tanker was struck by an unknown projectile off the coast of Oman on Saturday, October 3. A separate tanker was struck by a projectile on Friday, October 2, resulting in a small fire that was later extinguished.
In the United States, President Donald Trump stated on Saturday that Iran has "virtually given up" plans for nuclear weapons and noted that domestic oil prices were decreasing. However, a May 2026 poll by Public First and POLITICO found that 53 percent of Americans viewed the cost of living as the worst they could remember, with more than 60 percent stating the conflict with Iran has increased their personal expenses.
The scale of the economic impact in the United States includes a reported domestic inflation rate exceeding 70 percent in Iran, where the rial fell to a record low of 2.68 million per U.S. dollar despite a $2 billion central bank intervention. For American households, the conflict has been linked to price increases in gas, food, and medicine; 79 percent of Americans surveyed in May reported that gas prices had increased since the beginning of 2025. Military personnel are also affected, with approximately 9,000 additional U.S. troops deployed to the Middle East as of early October.
Legal and diplomatic developments continue as Portuguese prosecutors opened an inquiry into the use of Lajes Air Base by U.S. military flights. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bager Ghalibaf stated on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until seven conditions based on the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding are met. The next steps include potential U.S. administration decisions following a reported meeting at Camp David and the ongoing monitoring of maritime transit safety by the UKMTO.