Saudi Arabia said on Friday that its air defense systems had intercepted a ballistic missile over the southern city of Najran. It was the most recent of a series of escalating attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who have consistently targeted Saudi infrastructure in retaliation for Saudi leaders war against their insurgency in neighboring Yemen.
Another rocket hit an Aramco oil distribution terminal in the city of Jizan overnight, leading to a fire at one of the terminal’s tanks, the Saudi Energy Ministry said in a statement.
The Houthis rushed to report the attacks, along with suicide bombing attempts.
Al Ekhbariya / Saudi Broadcasting Authority
“Our armed forces have targeted the headquarters and vital facilities of the Saudi enemy with eighteen drones and eight ballistic missiles,” Houthis Army spokesman Yahya Sareaa said in a televised statement on Friday, swearing that the strikes will continue. .
Saudi media have shown images of debris said to come from several explosive-laden drones, which the Defense Ministry said were launched into the kingdom by Houthis. The ministry condemned the “cowardly” attacks in a statement posted on Twitter and accused the Houthi of threatening to supply energy.
The latest attacks come just days after Saudi Arabia offered a new proposal to end the war in Yemen, in which the kingdom supported the government against the Houthis. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan unveiled the plan on Monday, which would include an immediate UN-supervised ceasefire, the reopening of Saana Airport, the rebel capital, and the Saudi-led military coalition, lifting the blockade on the rebel. – Hodeidah port.
As a gesture of goodwill, the Saudi-led coalition released four fuel ships on Friday to dock at Hodeidah, a strategic Red Sea port, according to local media reports.
The Houthis rejected the openings and reiterated their call for the Saudi coalition to immediately lift the entire air and sea blockade aimed at stifling supplies to their territory, which covers most of Yemen.
“How come those who launched the war now claim to be eager to mediate peace in our country?” Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a televised address on Thursday. “The lifting of the blockade and other humanitarian issues could not be part of any political or military negotiations. We would never accept this.”
Andrew Harnik / AP
Meanwhile, Washington’s special envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, returned to the region on Friday in a new push to bring the warring sides of Yemen to the negotiating table. The veteran American diplomat returned just two weeks ago from his second trip to the region, where he held shuttle meetings in four countries to try to mediate a ceasefire.
Mohamed Abdel Salam, the Houthi’s chief negotiator, said on Friday that Oman-mediated talks with the US envoy and the Saudis were still ongoing, even though Houthi forces had launched new attacks on Saudi Arabia.
“The exchange of ideas and proposals is currently underway with US and UN envoys, as well as with the Saudis, through the brothers in the Sultanate of Oman,” he told the Arab Aljazeera network. “Discussions revolve around humanitarian efforts, in addition to other steps taken to achieve a ceasefire and pave the way for political dialogue.”
But Saudi leaders say the latest Houthi attacks are further evidence that the rebels are not really interested in ending the war.
“The attack on the Jizan oil station and the attempt to target civilian targets are a confirmation of the Houthi terrorist militia’s rejection of the Kingdom’s initiative to end the Yemeni crisis and a statement of Iranian tutelage on the militia’s political and military decision.” said the Saudi Defense Ministry in a statement on Friday.
The war in Yemen has entered its seventh year this week. The UN humanitarian bureau estimates that the conflict – considered by many to be a power struggle between its rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran – to the detriment of the Yemeni people – has claimed at least 233,000 lives, mostly civilians.
The UN has said the conflict is leading to the worst man-made humanitarian crisis in the world.
While the US continues to support the Yemeni government in February, President Joe Biden announced the end of US support for offensive operations by the Saudi-led coalition and called for an end to the conflict.
“This war must end,” Mr Biden said in his first major foreign policy speech since taking office.