The Saudi Pro League (SPL) has postponed three fixtures, including one involving Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr, following the dramatic escalation in the country’s war with the Houthis.

Also read | Ronaldo on target as Al-Nassr win after security delay

The matchweek nine fixtures have been pushed back in the calendar for “logistical considerations, taking into account the mandatory minimum rest period between matches”, according to a statement published on Tuesday (October 14, 2026) on the SPL’s website.

The meeting between league leaders Al Hilal and Al Riyadh and the match between Al Ittihad and Al Shabab have been postponed to December 19, while the clash between Al Ahli and Ronaldo’s Al Nassr has been rescheduled for March 6, 2027.

The SPL added, however, that the other matchweek nine fixtures “will be played according to the previously announced schedule with no changes”.

On Monday (October 12, 2026), Al Nassr’s AFC Champions League match against Uzbek side Neftchi Fergana in Riyadh was delayed by an hour after the coalition announced it had intercepted a missile fired by the Houthis towards the Saudi capital.

A violent battle between a Saudi-led coalition and Yemen’s Houthis has erupted in recent days, with missile strikes on airports and energy facilities across the kingdom.

The latest round of fighting was triggered by Houthi strikes on Riyadh’s international airport at the weekend that left 13 people dead and operations suspended in the worst attack since 2015.

The top defence officials of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkiye have resolved to defend the security of the Gulf Kingdom under the Makkah Defence Alliance in the wake of recent attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the Pakistan Army said on Saturday (September 26, 2026).

The trilateral defence agreement, signed by the three countries last month, establishes a framework for collective deterrence and stipulates that an armed attack against any one of them would be regarded as an attack against all.

The meeting of the chiefs of defence forces and chiefs of general staff of the countries was held in Riyadh on Friday (September 25, 2026), according to a statement by the army.

They reviewed the security situation and the threats facing Saudi Arabia.

“The participants strongly affirmed their commitment to collective defence, thereby demonstrating the resolve of the three countries in defending the security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia,” it said.

They resented the attacks targeting the Holy City of Makkah and civilian and economic infrastructure, while appreciating the vigilance and professionalism of the Saudi Armed Forces, the statement said.

The participants also discussed ways to further advance cooperation among the armed forces of the three countries and to enhance intelligence sharing, military coordination, and capability integration.

They said that their meeting in Riyadh reflects the strength of their defence partnership and their shared determination to immediately translate the commitments of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement into effective military cooperation, according to the army.

The meeting came a day after the foreign ministers of the three nations met in New York and discussed the challenges faced by the kingdom.

On Wednesday (September 23, 2026), Pakistan appointed former Lt. Gen. Nauman Mahmood as the first secretary-general of the trilateral alliance.

Saudi Arabia will run out of oil stocks for exports if it doesn’t restart its major pipeline to the Red Sea within days, leading to a ‌loss of up to 4% of global supply, Saudi oil buyers and traders said.

A further decline in Saudi flows will worsen the global supply crunch, which has already ‌pushed global fuel prices to record highs, spurred inflation around the world and sent U.S. bond ‌yields ⁠to the highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis.

Since drone attacks forced Saudi Arabia ⁠to shut its huge east-west oil pipeline on Friday (September 11, 2026), Riyadh has not given full details about the extent of the damage or how long the route will stay off-line.

Sources that spoke to Reuters gave varying estimates, with one saying the damage could ​take as long as five to ‌six weeks to repair, while another said it could be fixed sooner and could resume pumping partially while repairs are ongoing.

Saudi Arabia’s government media office and energy ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

For the past six months, the pipeline running through the desert across the ‌Arabian Peninsula has spared Saudi Arabia from the brunt of the impact of the wartime ​shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz that has crippled exports from its neighbours.

The world’s biggest exporter has used the pipeline to reroute around 4 million barrels ⁠per day — around 4% of global supply — to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea.

But with the pipeline out of service, Yanbu now has stocks to maintain exports for just five to seven ‌days, according to three industry sources familiar with Saudi exports.

Saudi Arabia also has stocks to supply customers for several days from Egypt’s ports of Ain Sukhna on the Red Sea and Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean, a fourth source said.

Yanbu storage capacity stands at around 35 million barrels, according to industry estimates, with Ain Sukhna and Sidi Kerir able to store 18 million and 20 million barrels respectively.

Stocks are not full and will ultimately run out without the east-west pipeline resuming operations, the four sources ‌said.

Saudi oil supply has already fallen to a more than three-decade low in August on reduced flows via Hormuz ​and the Red Sea, the International Energy Agency said on Friday (September 11, 2026).

World oil supply will decline this year by 5.7 million bpd, or about 6%, the IEA, which ⁠coordinates Western energy policies, said.

In addition to the attack on the pipeline, Houthi fighters in Yemen, who have threatened ⁠Saudi oil shipments, seized an island on Friday (September 11) in the mouth of the Red Sea.

West Asia supplied around 22 million barrels per day of oil before the war. ‌Flows through the Strait of Hormuz have slowed to just 6 million to 9 million bpd, industry sources say.

Saudi Arabia told OPEC last week that its oil production had dropped to just ​6.2 million bpd in August from 10.9 million bpd in February before the start of the war.

The Saudi Defence Ministry said it intercepted several drones launched by pro-Iran groups in Iraq on Monday (July 27, 2026), while the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen also claimed attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure.

Also read | Red Sea shipping slows after Houthi hits on Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia was repeatedly targeted by Iran and its allies at the height of the West Asia war, but the latest attacks come during a lull in the fighting since Saturday (July 25, 2026), following 13 days of exchanges of fire between the U.S. and Iran.

The Saudi Defence Ministry said “terrorist attempts were launched from Iraqi territory and carried out by Iranian-backed terrorist militias”, according to an official statement posted on social media.

The Ministry said the drones targeted petroleum facilities in areas in the country’s east and the capital Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia demanded that Iraq “take all necessary measures to ensure the prevention of the use of its territory as a launching point” for attacks, according to a separate statement posted by an official Saudi broadcaster.

Pro-Iran armed groups based in Iraq have not claimed any attacks in Iraq or the region since the resumption of hostilities between the U.S. and Iran earlier this month after an April ceasefire broke down.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations had accused pro-Iran militias in Iraq of launching waves of attacks targeting their territory during the earlier phase of the conflict.

Riyadh and Yemen’s Houthi rebels have also traded strikes in recent days, with the Houthis announcing the imposition of a naval blockade on the kingdom’s ports.

On Monday (July 27, 2026), the Houthis said they launched drone attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure in response to incursions by the kingdom’s drones.

Riyadh had yet to comment on the Houthi’s claims.

A Saudi-led military coalition had fought against the Houthi rebels in support of Yemen’s internationally recognised government after war broke out in the country in 2015.

The latest flare-up between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis marks the first time in years the two sides have traded blows, threatening a 2022 truce in the previous conflict that has held despite expiring.