ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The US Embassy in Baghdad on Sunday urged American citizens to exercise increased caution and monitor possible flight cancellations, warning that hostilities between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia could escalate beyond the immediate area.

The Houthis have repeatedly targeted Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport amid renewed fighting between the group and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

“Iranian-supported Houthis have engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure,” the embassy said, warning that the hostilities “have the potential to escalate rapidly beyond that immediate area.”

The embassy advised US citizens to check the status of their flights departing from Baghdad and Basra airports, as well as the international airports in Erbil and Sulaimani, either directly with the airports or through their airlines.

“Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other U.S. interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world, including U.S. businesses and other institutions,” the embassy further warned.

The Houthi rebels warned travelers earlier in October to avoid using Saudi airports, except those of Mecca and Medina, threatening that all other Saudi airports “constitute a theater of operations for our forces.”

The Houthis are widely regarded as one of the most powerful actors within the Iran-backed regional axis of resistance. The group holds staunch anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiment, alongside its animosity toward Riyadh.

Earlier in October, US President Donald Trump said that the US “may” join Saudi Arabia in the war against the Houthis while responding to reporters.

“We may. We're going to look at it. We just found out about the recent attack. We will make a decision. We move very quickly,” Trump told reporters when asked whether the US would join Riyadh in taking military action against the Yemeni group.

The conflict between Riyadh and the Houthis had lain largely dormant since a UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022. However, the Iran-backed group blamed Saudi Arabia for an airstrike on Sanaa International Airport in July, setting in motion a chain of events that culminated in a large-scale Houthi offensive that expanded their effective control over war-wracked Yemen.