Saudi Arabia blames Iran for backing intensified Houthi offensive

A Saudi foreign ministry official on Thursday accused Iran of encouraging the Houthis in the latest escalation of their fight with the kingdom, adding that it continues to arm and train the group. “Iran continues to arm, train and support the Houthi militia in violation of UN security council resolutions,” Dr Rayed Krimly, deputy minister for public diplomacy at the foreign ministry, said during a virtual briefing with reporters. “We think that the escalation by the Houthis at this latest stage of the conflict is encouraged by Iran,” he later said. The official said the kingdom however remained in communication with Iran, even if Tehran appeared unwilling to offer concessions. “We continue to have direct communications with Iran,” Krimly told reporters. “Overall, it doesn’t seem yet that the Iranians are able to provide the necessary concessions for a solution.” The official went on to accuse the Houthis of refusing to meet in Oman in recent weeks as fighting ramped up between the two sides. “At the beginning of this escalation, we asked them to meet in Muscat, Oman and they refused,” he added. “This was the last communication which happened a few weeks ago.” The world’s top crude oil exporter has in recent days come under sustained attack, including a strike on Riyadh’s international airport that was the deadliest in years, as the war with the Houthis dramatically escalates. Yemen’s civil war reignited in July after a UN-brokered truce collapsed, months into a wider Middle East war that has rocked the region and roiled energy supplies and markets. The conflict in the country has caused what the United Nations calls one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, leaving most of the nation’s population dependent on aid. The Saudi-led coalition has fought the Houthis since 2015 after they seized Yemen’s capital Sanaa and forced out the internationally recognised government from the city, until a UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022. Saudi-led coalition says Houthis attempted to attack dozens of Saudi facilities Meanwhile, the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said on Thursday that the Houthis had attempted to attack dozens of Saudi airports, ports and oil facilities. Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said at a press conference that the Houthis had launched 20 attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh this month, killing 17 people and wounding 333 others. The coalition also said Houthi attacks on Abha airport, in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border, had killed three people and wounded 28. Maliki said the Houthis had acquired advanced military technology with the help of “regional actors,” including ballistic missiles, drones and explosive-laden fast boats. The spokesperson also said the coalition had destroyed 127 weapons storage facilities and launch platforms in Yemen’s mountainous areas. He called on the Houthis to immediately halt operations targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, and said the group should read the coalition’s statement carefully and “between the lines”. Shortly after the coalition’s statement, the Houthi military spokesperson said Saudi airspace and airports were unsafe, renewing a warning to airlines while excluding airspace over the holy cities of Makkah and Madina.

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