September 21st, 2026: Houthi Missiles Target Riyadh & Ukraine’s Biggest Moscow Drone Attack

Mike Baker (0:12)

It's Monday, the 21st of September. Welcome to The President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. And yes, I am on the road. All right, let's get briefed. First up, well, OK, before we get to what's first up, in a major development over the weekend, Ole Miss beats down LSU and their coach, he must not be named, Saturday evening in Oxford. Amazing game. It was incredible. An incredible energy and excitement throughout that stadium. Great job to Coach Pete and the young men of Ole Miss. Hotty toddy.

All right, now let's get to the brief. First up, Houthi missiles and drones target Riyadh, and now Turkey says it could step in to help Saudi Arabia under a new trilateral defense pact that was recently signed between the Saudis, Turkey and Pakistan. The escalation is raising the risk that this conflict expands into a much bigger regional war. More conflict. That's just what 2026 needed. Later in the show, Ukraine launches its biggest drone attack yet on Moscow, hitting the Russian capital, as voters participated in the nation's parliamentary elections. I use the word elections loosely, given that there was no opposition to Putin on the ballot. Plus, President Trump announces a deal to expand the US military presence in Greenland, while leaving the strategically vital Arctic island under Danish sovereignty. So for the time being, no invasion of Greenland is on the calendar.

In today's Back of the Brief, Kim Jong Un launches his teddy out of the crib yet again. North Korea launches two ballistic missiles into the sea just days after threatening to strengthen their nuclear capabilities. But first, today's PDB spotlight. The Middle East took a very dangerous turn toward a broader regional war this weekend. For the first time in the current Saudi Houthi escalation, the fighting reached Riyadh. Saudi Arabia says the Iranian-backed Houthis launched a ballistic missile toward the capital early Saturday morning. Saudi air defenses intercepted it, but residents reported hearing explosions and later a huge column of black smoke could be seen rising near King Khalid International Airport. The Houthis claimed that they had attacked what they called sensitive sites in Riyadh using missiles and drones. The Wall Street Journal reports the assault apparently targeted jet fuel storage at the airport. The Houthis also claimed attacks elsewhere in the kingdom, including Yanbu on the Red City, where one of Saudi Arabia's most important oil pipelines terminates. Saudi officials say attacks were also attempted against Taif, Baish and Farsan.

This follows another serious incident just days earlier, when Saudi Arabia accused the Houthis of sending a drone toward Mecca. The Houthis denied targeting the holy city, but Riyadh called the security of Mecca a red line. So the pressure is building quickly, which is the intention, of course, of the Iranian regime. It's fairly implausible that the Houthis are acting unilaterally here without the influence and guidance of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, which has personnel on the ground in Yemen working with the Houthis. The Houthis have been attacking Saudi territory since July, when they declared a naval blockade against the Saudi Kingdom and opened another front in the broader regional war. They've also seized important positions along Yemen's Red Sea coast, including the port of Moqa and islands near the Bab al-Mandeb, giving them a stronger position along one of the world's most important shipping routes. And Saudi Arabia is beginning to feel the strain. Regional officials tell the Associated Press that the kingdom is running low on missile defense interceptors after weeks of Houthi attacks. Riyadh has reportedly asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt for additional air defense support. And they reportedly asked the White House for military assistance in dealing with the Houthis, a request that was apparently rebuffed. The US continues to provide intelligence cooperation, but President Trump has so far resisted Saudi requests for direct American military help against the Houthis.

And that brings us to what's arguably the most important part of this story. Saudi Arabia has another set of allies that it can call on. As we reported last month, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed what they call the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement. At the heart of that pact is a simple provision. An armed attack against one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack against all three. It's not dissimilar to the Article 5 clause in the NATO alliance. The Turkish foreign minister said on Saturday that Turkey sees what he called very serious attacks on Saudi sovereignty and territorial integrity. He said Riyadh may now have military needs, particularly technical ones, and that Turkey is prepared to help meet them under the agreement. Pakistan has been more cautious. Islamabad says there have not yet been discussions about launching a military response under the pact. But Pakistani officials have repeatedly said, the country intends to honor the agreement if the time comes. That puts Pakistan in an especially difficult position. Islamabad has also tried to maintain relations with Iran and has played a diplomatic role between Tehran, Washington and the Gulf States. Direct Pakistani military involvement against the Iran-backed Houthis would make that balancing act much harder. Saudi Arabia is facing missile and drone attacks on its cities, attacks on energy infrastructure, pressure along its Red Sea export route and dwindling stocks of the interceptors that it needs to defend against all of that. Turkey is now publicly saying it's prepared to help. Pakistan is saying it's going to honor its obligations with a defense pact when necessary. And the fighting that began as another front between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis now has a mechanism that could pull two more major militaries into the conflict.