Airports, oil pipelines and ambitious development projects: the confrontation described in the latest episode of Hindustan Times’ Point Blank reaches beyond the battlefield. In conversation with Senior Anchor Aayesha Varma, HT Executive Editor Shishir Gupta argued that Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia could widen an already tangled Middle Eastern crisis, threatening energy supplies and testing regional alliances. His central warning was that the economic consequences could ultimately outweigh the military damage.
Gupta described attacks on airports in Riyadh and Dammam, alongside the targeting of Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline. He linked the Houthi campaign to Riyadh’s support for Yemen’s internationally recognised government. For Gupta, the concern was not simply the choice of targets, but the attackers’ ability to penetrate Saudi defences. Tourism, aviation and large infrastructure projects depend on confidence that visitors and investors can operate safely. Gupta’s warning was that repeated disruption could undermine that confidence even where projects remain physically intact. Asked whether Washington would come to Riyadh’s assistance, Gupta expressed scepticism. he argued that American involvement would add another front to an already complicated regional confrontation Although he referred to President Donald Trump raising the possibility of intervention. His assessment left Riyadh facing an awkward choice. The gap between military necessity and diplomatic commitments was, in his account, narrowing Saudi options. His political argument was clearer: exceptions made for American needs could weaken Washington’s credibility when it demands restraint from others. He linked Trump’s choices to fuel prices, inflation and domestic electoral pressures, describing foreign-policy decisions as increasingly directed towards American voters.
The discussion opened with Varma referring to attacks on Riyadh airport and reporting at least 14 deaths across recent strikes.
He said the Houthis were evading interception, exposing vulnerabilities in infrastructure essential to travel, commerce and energy exports. The same insecurity, he said, threatens Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s development ambitions. He said shortages of air-defence interceptors could encourage Saudi Arabia to seek help from Israel or the UAE, while the political positioning of its alliance could make such cooperation difficult.
