Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen fire missiles at Saudi capital

RIYADH/DUBAI (Reuters) – Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement said it fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at the Saudi capital on Wednesday – an attack Saudi authorities said they intercepted in the skies over the city.

The assault comes a day after Saudi Arabia’s top ally the United States pulled out of an international deal with Iran over its disputed nuclear program and could signal an uptick in tensions between regional rivals Riyadh and Tehran.

The Houthis said the missiles were launched at economic targets in Riyadh, the group’s al-Masirah TV reported. At least four blasts were heard in the city center, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The Houthis have fired a series of missiles into neighboring Saudi Arabia in recent months, part of a three-year-old conflict in Yemen widely seen as a proxy battle between the Saudis and Iran.

A spokesman for the Houthi-aligned military Colonel Aziz Rashed told al-Masirah TV channel that the attack on the capital and another area marked “a new phase” and was revenge for Saudi air strikes on Yemen.

“There will be more salvos until this enemy is deterred, understands the meaning of the Yemeni threat and ceases its crimes,” Rashed said.

He did not mention U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision, hours earlier, to pull out of the international nuclear accord with Iran. But there have been fears the U.S. pull-out could exacerbate the conflict in Yemen and other regional flashpoints.

“HOSTILE ACTION”

Saudi Arabia and other U.S. allies queued up on Wednesday to praise Trump’s decision, as did Yemen’s government, which has been forced into exile by Houthi advances in their country.

The Yemeni government said the U.S. withdrawal as a necessary step to stop Iran’s “destabilizing and dangerous” behavior. “The Iranian regime has exploited the benefits of the nuclear agreement to export violence and terrorism to its neighbors,” it said in a statement.

Saudi state media said separately that air defense forces had intercepted a missile launched at the southern city of Jizan, in an attack also claimed by the Houthis.

“This hostile action by the Houthi militia backed by Iran proves the continued involvement of the Iranian regime,” coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki was quoted as saying by state news agency SPA.

Iran, he added, aimed “to threaten the security of Saudi Arabia as well as regional and international security”.

A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 to try and push back the Houthis after they ousted the internationally recognized government.

Iran and the Houthis have regularly dismissed Saudi accusations that Tehran is arming the group.

Reporting by Sarah Dadouch and Marwa Rashad; Editing by Catherine Evans and Andrew Heavens

Share and Enjoy

Israel reportedly launches airstrikes in Syria immediately after Trump withdraws from Iran deal

---

Nine pro-Syrian fighters were reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike near the Syrian capital of Damascus on Tuesday, shortly after Israeli forces determined “abnormal movements of Iranian forces” in Syria.

On Tuesday night, state-owned media outlets in Syria reported that its air defenses intercepted two Israeli missiles; however, the Syrian media is believed to have inflated its defensive capabilities in the past.

The reported strikes targeted an “arms depot belonging to Hezbollah and the Iranians,” according Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human rights, according to the AFP.

Videos of the alleged strike were seen across social media:

Israel’s military typically does not publicly discuss its airstrikes, but it recently took several steps indicating an escalating conflict with Iranian forces. On Tuesday, the Israeli army ordered the opening and preparation of missile shelters in the occupied Golan Heights, but stopped short of instructing residents to occupy the shelters.

Military reservists were also activated and missile defense batteries in northern Israel were placed on high alert, according to The Times of Israel.

“The IDF is ready and prepared for a variety of scenarios and warns that any action against Israel will be answered with a fierce retaliation,” the Israeli army announced, according to The Times.

The incident comes shortly after President Donald Trump announced that he would be withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal and enact fresh sanctions against “the leading state sponsor of terror.”

“Over the years, Iran and its proxies have bombed American embassies and military installations, murdered hundreds of American servicemembers, and kidnapped, imprisoned, and tortured American citizens,” Trump said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction,” Trump continued. “Any nation that helps Iran in its quest for nuclear weapons could also be strongly sanctioned by the United States.”

Israel previously launched airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria, striking Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps locations in April. Prior to that, Israel and Iran were battling each other in the skies, with each suffering losses — in February, an Iranian drone and an Israeli F-16 were shot down, in addition to 12 Syrian and Iranian military facilities being damaged.

As a strategic ally to Syria and a longtime nemesis of Israel, Iran continues to expand its influence with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime by sharing dozens of military bases and positions.

Share and Enjoy