When Missiles Run Out and the Budget Dwindles/ Saudi Arabia Has Few Options in Yemen/ Bin Salman Hides Out and Stresses Keeping the Diplomatic Channel With Iran Open

According to the Wall Street Journal, intensified retaliatory attacks by the Yemeni army (Ansarallah) have confronted Saudi Arabia with a budget crisis, depleted interceptor missile stocks and threats to vital infrastructure. Continuing the war could disrupt investment in information technology and artificial intelligence and jeopardize bin Salman's economic transformation plans.

According to Ambassador Arjan, Saudi Arabia is facing both a security threat and an economic crisis in this war. The costs of the war have increased the budget deficit and the stocks of interceptor missiles are also decreasing. These conditions can jeopardize investment in data centers, artificial intelligence and information technology. The continuation of the conflict also threatens the economic plans of Mohammed bin Salman to reduce dependence on oil, attract foreign investors and turn Saudi Arabia into a technology hub in the region.

According to Ambassador Arjan, in this regard, the American newspaper Wall Street Journal reported that the pressure on the Saudi Crown Prince has increased; Mohammed bin Salman is now facing an economy that has been weakened by heavy spending and inaccurate estimates of the threat of the Yemeni resistance. The intensification of the conflict threatens the plans of the Saudi crown prince for economic transformation.

American media wrote that Mohammed bin Salman had started the year with favorable conditions. He recently visited the White House and was warmly welcomed by Donald Trump. Even after the start of conflicts with Iran, Saudi Arabia seemed to be in a relatively favorable position; Because it could export its oil through a pipeline that did not pass through the blocked Strait of Hormuz. But the intensification of the Saudis' battle with Yemen's Ansarullah has now created new challenges for the security of this kingdom, as well as the ambitious but difficult plans of the Saudi crown prince to change the structure of the country's oil-dependent economy.

On Saturday, at least one Yemeni missile hit the Saudi capital's international airport, causing casualties. This was the most serious attack against the United States or its allies in the Persian Gulf region during the conflicts related to the American-Zionist war of aggression against Iran. Authorities announced more attacks on the shuttered airport on Sunday, saying a projectile hit Terminal 4, causing a fire and injuring several people.

This is despite the fact that the Saudi authorities told reporters last summer that Yemen is under control. But the increasing attacks of the Yemeni resistance, which is a response to the aggressive actions of Saudi Arabia against Yemen and the Yemenis, have targeted airports and energy facilities, including the main east-west pipeline and refineries of the Kingdom of Al Saud, and represent a growing threat along the southern borders.

Bin Salman's dream of artificial intelligence surrounded by financial crisis

According to the Wall Street Journal report, this conflict has jeopardized Saudi Arabia's efforts to turn the travel and tourism industry into one of the pillars of the economy; Including a big international investment conference that was planned for the end of this month and now its holding is facing serious doubts. The costs of the war have so far increased Saudi Arabia's budget deficit and put its economy at risk of recession. Also, the way the Saudi crown prince manages this test will have consequences beyond the borders of this kingdom.

Saudi Arabia is a major source of funding for the global technology industry and artificial intelligence projects, and also plays a vital role in providing the US military with bases and overflight permits over its territory, the US media reported. However, Riyadh is in the middle of a war with the Yemeni resistance, and Saudi officials have said that their stockpile of interceptor missiles needed to deal with further attacks is running low. The escalation of attacks on Riyadh has turned parts of the Saudi capital into a battlefield.

Bin Salman's stay in hiding and stressing the opening of the diplomatic channel with Iran

According to officials familiar with the movements of the 41-year-old crown prince, bin Salman moves between heavily guarded palaces equipped with underground bunkers and is protected by a select security team. His last public appearance was on Tuesday, when he donated blood in support of a national blood donation drive.

According to people familiar with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's internal decision-making, Saudi Arabia also faced the challenge of air defense coverage across the vast country, and is constantly moving defense systems to protect palaces and energy infrastructure. These people stated that the Saudi Crown Prince emphasized to his advisers to keep the diplomatic channel open with Iran and to make it clear that the intention of the Saudi kingdom is not confrontational.

Christian Coates Ulriksen, an expert on Persian Gulf issues and a researcher at the "Baker Institute" at Rice University, says that Saudi Arabia has few favorable options ahead.

Ulriksen says: "Any military response carries the risk of being dragged deeper into an asymmetric conflict; A conflict in which Yemen's Ansarullah has shown that they have the ability to inflict heavy and symbolic damage."

Saudi media officials did not respond to requests for comment.

How does the war threaten Bin Salman's economic ambitions?

Over the past decade, the Saudi prince has poured large sums of money into a series of projects with extraordinarily complex engineering requirements; Projects that aim to show the modernization process of the kingdom and attract investment and tourism. These plans include the futuristic Neom city, a massive, cube-shaped building in Riyadh, and a ski resort in the heart of the desert. The total costs of these plans reach trillions of dollars, which is a very heavy and bold figure for a government with an annual budget of about 350 billion dollars.

The costs and economic losses caused by a possible war against Iran make it practically impossible to balance these financial calculations, which seemed difficult and far-fetched before. Saudi Arabia is modernizing under the leadership of Bin Salman. The amount of foreign investment decreased in the first two quarters of the year and is far behind the goals set by the Crown Prince for 2030. The increase in military and infrastructural costs threatens the financial resources needed for the economic diversification plan. Even the kingdom's bid to become an artificial intelligence hub now faces new risks, as data centers become potential targets for attacks.

Many huge projects that were started under the guidance of the Saudi Crown Prince are now stopped or under review. In January, Saudi Arabia dropped its plans to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games. The country still needs to find a way to fund the World Expo in 2030 and the soccer World Cup four years after that.

According to the report of "Capital Economics" Institute, the non-oil sector of this country's economy has shrunk in the second quarter of the year compared to the first quarter. The Saudi Ministry of Finance now predicts that the country's GDP will decrease by 3.6 percent in 2026.

Earlier this year, the kingdom tried to bypass the Strait of Hormuz to transport oil through a desert pipeline to the Red Sea. The country benefited from those sales and higher prices, but in July, Yemen declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia in response to Saudi aggression, targeting shipping related to them in the Red Sea. In September, Yemeni forces launched an attack on the East-West pipeline, the main oil export route of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and then targeted the Saudi aviation industry, putting pressure on another pillar of the country's economy. Yemeni forces have targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh at least four times.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the new round of violence occurred just when Bin Salman was trying to contain tensions and confrontation with Iran. Tehran's attacks early in the war exposed the dangers posed to energy facilities and economic assets—such as airports—throughout the Persian Gulf region.

When the missiles run out and the budgets dry up

Despite the Saudi prince's efforts to strengthen ties with Trump — including a pledge to invest about $1 trillion in the United States — the U.S. has so far resisted bin Salman's calls for military aid to halt Yemen's Ansarullah advance, though it has sent military advisers to the region.

According to the sources, Saudi Arabia has asked for help from its military ally, Pakistan, and is looking for air defense systems around the world. It is also said that this country is seeking to attract foreign forces to help its Yemeni allies.

The American newspaper Wall Street Journal concluded: At the same time, Saudi Arabia is increasingly considering the possibility of reaching a diplomatic solution to this conflict; A conflict that otherwise seems difficult to contain.