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Saudi Arabia went to war in Yemen more than a decade ago, and now, that war has come to the Saudi capital's doorstep. The kingdom also faces the possibility of more attacks if the U.S. and Israel renew strikes on Iran after tomorrow's election. NPR international correspondent Aya Batrawy spent time in Riyadh and has this report on how these wars are threatening Saudi Arabia's plans for the future.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: The Saudi capital, Riyadh, is racing to invite the world in and see its transformation. Sweeping social and economic reforms are changing life in the city. One place to see this is on the Riyadh Metro. It opened two years ago, making it the newest metro system in the world.
(SOUNDBITE OF METRO TRAIN RUNNING)
AUTOMATED VOICE #1: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: So one of the really cool things about Riyadh that I'm trying for the first time is the metro system. And it has completely changed the lives of people in the city who ride it. It is four riyals for two hours, any direction you're going, and that's about a dollar.
AUTOMATED VOICE #2: STC. Please change here for blue line.
BATRAWY: This fully driverless system cost more than $20 billion to construct. It's one of the country's many mega projects. Thirty-year-old Saudi nurse Amjad Mansour rides it most days.
AMJAD MANSOUR: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: She's on her way to work, and she tells me she drives 10 minutes to the station near her house, then hops on the metro to avoid Riyadh's gridlock. A decade ago, none of this was possible. Women have only been allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia since 2018, and this new metro system offers an added form of mobility.
Same?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: No. No. Not same.
BATRAWY: Not same. OK. How much is this one?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Twenty-five.
BATRAWY: Also, why? One's metal. One's plastic.
Outside the Qasr Al-Hukm Metro Station is a souk with Saudi trinkets and a more than century-old fortress that's now a museum, showcasing the battles fought and won by the ruling Al Saud family who inhabited this desert region before oil was discovered.
You can see a lot of history here. You can also find Saudi coffee shops. And this is the kind of thing that I think when they envisioned revamping it, they envisioned it also for foreigners and for tourists to come because all the signs are in both English and in Arabic.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wants millions of tourists to see all of this, to ride the Metro and to spend their money here. It's part of his broader plan to overhaul the economy. And to do this, he is spending billions on infrastructure to host the World's Fair in 2030 and the FIFA World Cup in 2034. But these hard deadlines are colliding with two open-ended conflicts, the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and a war in Yemen against the Houthis, who are supported by Iran, a longtime rival of Saudi Arabia.
ABDULELAH ALSHEIKH: Without a stable region, you cannot have a stable economy and growth.
BATRAWY: Abdulelah Alsheikh is the Saudi country director for Jacobs, an engineering and consultancy firm. He's at the Saudi Mega Projects summit in Riyadh. The Houthis are firing missiles and drones at the country, and I ask him if the war is affecting budgeting and planning for Mega Projects.
ALSHEIKH: For sure. I mean, the government has taken lots of steps in re-prioritization. We've seen it in programs and projects and focusing on matters that need to be delivered. So that goes without saying.
BATRAWY: Alsheikh, however, says these are short-term challenges, that Saudi Arabia is committed to hosting the Expo and World Cup. But flying into Riyadh has been mostly impossible since October 10, following deadly Houthi attacks on the airport. The sound of booms from missile interceptions ring out over the capital almost daily now. These attacks have forced Saudi Arabia to cancel high-profile events this year. The Houthis are also blocking Saudi oil tankers at the mouth of the Red Sea and targeting refineries and oil fields in response to what they say are deadly Saudi airstrikes and a long-running blockade on Houthi areas of Yemen.
Abdulaziz Sager, who heads the Gulf Research Center, says it's important to remember the Gulf has seen wars before. We meet at an upscale hotel lobby in Riyadh, where the Gulf's prosperity is tangible, even in this time of war and economic recession.
ABDULAZIZ SAGER: Somehow being a people from the desert, we are resilience, so we do have the ability to live with the situation and overcome it, yes.
BATRAWY: He says securing Saudi Arabia's southern border with Yemen is a top priority, but he adds...
SAGER: From my point of view, still, the biggest challenge is the U.S. unpredictability. This is No. 1.
BATRAWY: That unpredictability and the possibility of new U.S. attacks on Iran means that Saudi Arabia's big plans for the future could be hit by even bigger blows now.
Aya Batrawy, NPR News, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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