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Reuters reported from Aden and Dubai that the Houthis attacked the airport on Wednesday after warning people to leave it, that residents heard an explosion near the facility, that government forces reported civilian injuries and material damage, and that two transport ministry officials said air traffic was halted. An aid source said some UN staff had left the airport shortly before the attack and that no one was hurt; a flight carrying aid workers had departed for Amman earlier in the morning. The IOM said its personnel travelling through Aden were safe. Saree's justification on X, a Saudi military cargo aircraft delivering weapons, drew no Saudi comment.

The context Reuters supplied is the one that matters for Riyadh: Houthi forces advanced toward Bab al-Mandab last month, government forces have since pushed to retake territory on the Red Sea coast, and the coalition has stepped up strikes in response to the attacks on Saudi Arabia. MSF said on Tuesday that one of its aircraft was about to take off from Aden a few days earlier when humanitarian workers were told to shelter as a missile struck nearby, and called safe access to the airport "crucial". Al Masirah's Jawf claim of 14 dead and 15 injured stands as a Houthi claim with no independent count.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that Qatari mediators presented Iran with a new draft deal on Sunday to end the eight-month war with the US and Israel, according to an official briefed on the negotiations who is not Iranian. The draft sets a seven-day timeline of daily confidence-building steps addressing both Tehran's and Washington's concerns, could begin early next week, and would have several countries act as guarantors; the official said the mediators had coordinated with Washington before travelling, and that a response was expected by the end of the week. Shortly afterwards a senior Iranian official involved in the talks said Qatar had presented only "unacceptable ideas and not an offer" and that Tehran's refusal of flexibility on the nuclear issue was unchanged. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran remained in contact with intermediaries and that its own seven-day plan could be implemented in less than a week.

The Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani delegation that met Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday therefore arrived one day after the Qatari text and left one day before Qatar said in public that Iran must stop threatening Gulf states and open the Strait of Hormuz to show good intentions. Reuters also recorded the pressure on the other side of the table: Trump repeated on Friday his threat to strike Iran again, several analysts expect renewed US strikes after the November 3 midterms, and Iranian security officials told Reuters last week that Tehran has detailed plans to hit Gulf undersea cables if attacks resume. Israel's election ended in deadlock, with Netanyahu remaining caretaker prime minister and, per the Tachlith Institute's Or Asher, legally able to take Israel to war including against Iran.

Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah was received at King Khalid airport by Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Elkhereiji and met Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Riyadh on Wednesday; Asharq Al-Awsat reported that the two stressed the need for a firm international stance against the Houthi attacks, and Kuwait's ministry said its minister condemned attempts to target Makkah and Madinah, called the attacks a threat to aviation security and demanded that those responsible be held accountable. Egypt's foreign minister Badr Abdelatty said on Wednesday that he had discussed regional developments and de-escalation with Prince Faisal by phone on Tuesday, with the ministry saying the two agreed to maintain close coordination.

The capital that did not deliver was Jerusalem. Reuters reported that neither Netanyahu's right-wing coalition nor the bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot was projected by Israeli media to win a majority of the 120 seats, that Netanyahu stays on as caretaker, and that President Herzog's nominee will have up to 42 days to form a government. The Israel Democracy Institute's Guy Lurie said a caretaker government has the same legal powers as a regular one but a "duty of restraint"; Tachlith's Or Asher said security is the clearest exception and that a caretaker prime minister can legally take Israel to war against Iran.

Reuters reported that Brent futures rose $1.44, or 1 percent, to settle at $115.32 on Wednesday, while WTI rose $2.88, or 3 percent, to $102.78, pushing Brent into overbought territory for the fourth time in five days. The drivers Reuters listed were the Aden fighting, the Houthi claim on Ras Tanura, which Saudi authorities had not confirmed, and the expectation among several analysts that renewed US strikes on Iran could come after the November 3 midterms; BOK Financial's Dennis Kissler wrote that the market was pricing nearer-term tighter supply on the prospect of US operations "more intense than in the past". The EIA's surprise 1.9 million barrel crude draw in the week to October 23, against a forecast 15,000 barrel build, added support. In Thursday's Asian session WTI gave back 92 cents to $101.86.

UBS raised its Brent forecast to $110 by end-2026 from $100, to $95 for March 2027 from $90, $90 for June from $85 and $85 for September from $80, citing Middle Eastern loadings that have recovered substantially but remain below pre-conflict levels, a record number of reported vessel attacks in and around Hormuz in October, and Middle East-to-China VLCC rates that have jumped to $30 to $40 a barrel from $1 to $3 over the past decade. OPEC+ is expected to keep December output targets steady at Sunday's meeting, with production in most of the seven core members, Saudi Arabia included, below target.

The New York Post, citing Bloomberg's report of Wednesday, said Saudi Arabia shipped about 6.5 million barrels a day so far in October according to Vortexa, roughly the same volume as September, with Kpler and TankerTrackers.com echoing the estimate. After the Houthi attack that shut the East-West pipeline last month, Riyadh increased shipments back through Hormuz, where traffic is pushing toward pre-war levels under US naval escort, and with the pipeline running again Aramco raised Red Sea exports to 2.5 million bpd, up 100,000 from September. The same report noted that many ships leaving the Gulf are switching off transponders, which makes the cargo count less certain than the headline suggests, and that Saudi officials have remained silent on the Ras Tanura claim.

On the Tadawul, Reuters reported that the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia, Bahri, advanced 1.6 percent after reporting a steep rise in quarterly profit, while Aramco fell 0.3 percent; UBS's note the same day attributed Brent's support in part to VLCC rates of $30 to $40 a barrel from the Gulf to China.

Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia's benchmark index reversed early losses to finish 0.4 percent higher at 10,023 on Wednesday, helped by a 0.7 percent increase in Saudi National Bank, the country's biggest lender, and a 1.6 percent advance in the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia after a steep rise in quarterly profit. Mobile Telecommunications Company Saudi Arabia, Zain KSA, retreated 1.5 percent after a drop in third-quarter profit, and Aramco was down 0.3 percent. Brent was up 1.2 percent at $115.19 at 1115 GMT as the Saudi session closed. The close takes the index above the 10,000 line it had approached on Tuesday at 9,986.45 after two sessions of heavy turnover; Wednesday's turnover is not reported by Reuters and is not established.

ICM MENA's Ahmed Kamal told Reuters that Gulf markets were under pressure from Trump's remarks on possible post-midterm military action and the continuing Hormuz disruption, with attention on regional mediation for signs of stability. Riyadh's gain came on a day when Abu Dhabi fell 1.6 percent and Kuwait 0.9 percent, which places the Saudi index as the outperformer among the markets most exposed to the attacks.

Reuters' regional close for Wednesday had Abu Dhabi down 1.6 percent to 9,590, dragged by a 5 percent plunge in Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank after a marginal rise in third-quarter profit; Dubai down 0.3 percent to 5,845 with Emirates NBD off 1.1 percent; Qatar up 0.7 percent to 9,214 on Qatar Islamic Bank's 2.5 percent gain; Kuwait down 0.9 percent to 8,940; Bahrain down 0.3 percent to 1,835; and Oman up 0.4 percent to 7,377. Outside the Gulf, Egypt's EGX30 slid 1.6 percent to 49,281 with Commercial International Bank down 2.4 percent, and a Reuters poll found the central bank likely to keep rates unchanged on Thursday for a sixth consecutive meeting, as a record-low pound, high energy costs and regional tensions outweigh easing inflation.

The pattern is not random. The two markets most exposed to Iranian retaliation in the Gulf's earlier bombardment, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, fell hardest; Qatar, the mediator holding the draft, rose most; and the Kingdom that absorbed nine interceptions on Tuesday and one more on Wednesday closed higher. Egypt, which has committed a parliamentary mandate to Saudi defence, is paying through its currency and its rate path.