Regional Officials Gather as Saudi Arabia Intercepts Missiles, Drones
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia intercepted missiles and drones on Tuesday as senior regional officials convened in Iran for talks to reduce tensions in the Middle East.
The Coalition for the Restoration of Legitimacy in Yemen says Saudi air defences intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles fired into the Kingdom’s Eastern Province.
Air defenses shot down four drones targeting southern Saudi Arabia, the coalition’s spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki said.
Saudi Civil Defence had issued a warning for the Eastern Province and Al-Kharj at roughly 3 a.m. Saudi time on Tuesday before canceling the alert.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been bombing the Kingdom after announcing a blockade of Saudi oil exports across the Red Sea.
The Yemeni army have been fighting to take back the land seized by the rebels who want to control the transit through the Bab Al-Mandab strait, and Saudi Arabia has been backing them.
Tehran, which backs the Houthis in their bid to govern Yemen, has been bombing ships in the Hormuz Strait after the US and Israel declared war on Iran on February 28.
The Houthis have targeted civilian and energy targets in the Kingdom before, including a fatal raid on Riyadh’s King Khalid Airport that killed 13 travelers.
Earlier on Monday, Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a conference of representatives of the countries of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement and Iranian authorities in Tehran.
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