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Saudi-Iran tensions flare as Yemen rebels issue new threats+video

FRANCE 24, Nov. 9, 2017— Shiite rebels in Yemen threatened on Tuesday to attack ports and airports in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, raising the stakes in a flare-up between Riyadh and Tehran.

 

 

 

The threat came hours after Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince Mohammed bin Salman accused Iran of “direct military aggression” through its support for the rebels — a claim Tehran rejected as “contrary to reality”.

The soaring tensions between the key oil producers saw crude trading at close to two-year highs on Tuesday and spooked Gulf markets.

The United States on Wednesday joined Saudi Arabia in accusing Iran of supplying Yemen’s Houthi rebels with advanced weapons including the ballistic missile that struck the Saudi capital on Saturday. The rebel missile was intercepted and destroyed near Riyadh international airport with smoldering debris inside the perimeter underscoring the growing fallout for Saudi Arabia from its involvement in neighboring Yemen.

The White House statement says the US condemns the Iranian government’s activities and stands with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf partners against Iran’s aggression and “blatant” violations of international law.

It says missile systems were not present in Yemen before the civil war there, alleging that Iran provided them. The statement also urges the United Nations to review evidence that Iran is perpetuating the war in Yemen to further its regional ambitions.

The rebels already showed on Saturday that despite a more than two-year Saudi-led bombing campaign, they retain missiles capable of striking targets deep inside the kingdom.

“All airports, ports, border crossings and areas of any importance to Saudi Arabia and the UAE will be a direct target of our weapons, which is a legitimate right,” the rebels’ political office said in a statement.

“We will not stand idly by — we will seek more radical means to prevent both the tightening of the blockade and all acts aimed at starving and humiliating the people of Yemen.”

The rebels’ threat of more missile attacks like that on Riyadh airport threatens to escalate the proxy conflict between Riyadh and Tehran, which back opposing sides in wars and power struggles from Yemen to Syria.

On Monday, the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said it reserved the “right to respond” to the missile attack.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the two major powers in a coalition that has been fighting against the Yemeni rebels since 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.

Since Saturday’s missile attack, the coalition has tightened its blockade of rebel-held areas of Yemen, blocking even UN-supervised relief supplies despite urgent appeals from the world body.

The coalition said its action was aimed at filling the gaps in inspection procedures that enable “smuggling of missiles and military equipment” to the rebels.

OCHA said the coalition had also asked it to clear ships from the rebel-held Red Sea port of Hodeida, the backbone of its humanitarian operations in Yemen.

It said it was in talks with the coalition to restore access as soon as possible.

Laerke said that in the immediate aftermath of the blockade, fuel prices in rebel-held areas had jumped by up to 60 percent and cooking gas prices had doubled.

Six Gulf Arab bourses ended lower on the tensions and the Saudi market was down 2.9 percent in afternoon trade at levels last seen more than five months ago.

 

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