Saudi Arabia has reportedly offered USD 1 billion to Yemen's Houthi group as part of an Iran-brokered deal to secure a ceasefire and halt attacks on the kingdom, Israeli media reported, citing diplomatic sources in the Gulf, ANI reported on October 27.

Source: ANI via Devdiscourse

Yaani: $1 billion is about Rs 9,400 crore — a very large sum, roughly the cost of a major highway project, reportedly discussed simply to stop attacks on Saudi airports and oil facilities.

According to the reports, Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman travelled to Tehran for talks aimed at securing a ceasefire with the Houthis, with the proposed arrangement involving the transfer of USD 1 billion to the group through Iran. The Tehran talks on October 26 also involved Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin and Pakistan's Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, alongside Iranian officials including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Supreme National Security Council Secretary General Mohsen Rezaei, the reports said.

One diplomatic source claimed the Saudi minister had even brought the money aboard the Hercules military transport aircraft on which he arrived in Tehran. That specific claim is unconfirmed. A Saudi official did not confirm that any money had been transferred, the reports said, and a separate market report on the same Israel Hayom story noted that Riyadh has publicly maintained it will not submit to military pressure or provide funding before the Houthis make territorial concessions.

Source: InvestingLive (Israel Hayom report)

What is solid

  • Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani officials held talks with Iranian officials in Tehran on October 26, and the four countries agreed to continue dialogue, Iranian state media and Reuters reported.
  • The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the Tehran visit was part of the Mecca Joint Defence Alliance's efforts to de-escalate tensions, encourage dialogue and support mediation by Qatar and Pakistan.

What is only claimed

  • The reported $1 billion offer to the Houthis rests on unnamed Gulf diplomatic sources cited by Israeli media; no government has confirmed it.
  • The claim that cash was carried aboard the Saudi aircraft is a single-source allegation and has not been independently verified.

According to the reports, Iran offered to mediate between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis amid escalating attacks on Saudi airports and oil facilities, which have inflicted economic damage on the kingdom. Iranian attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz have also disrupted oil exports from the Gulf — a route that matters directly to India and to lakhs of Punjabi and Indian workers in the Gulf, whose jobs, flights and remittances depend on calm in the region.

Awaaz Punjab is treating the $1 billion figure as a reported allegation, not a confirmed payment. If Riyadh or Tehran confirms or denies the offer on the record, this story will be updated.