Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of ‘aggression’

November 07, 2017 08:55 pm | Updated 08:55 pm IST - Riyadh

Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince accused Iran on Tuesday of “direct military aggression” through Yemen’s Houthi rebels, ratcheting up regional tensions as the kingdom reels from a sweeping royal purge. Saudi Arabia and Iran have been trading fierce accusations over their involvement in the conflict in Yemen, in which they back opposing sides.

In the latest flare-up, Saudi Arabia on Saturday intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile near Riyadh international airport, reportedly fired from Yemen by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, provoking a bitter war of words.

Saudi Arabia accused Iran of supplying missiles to the rebels. Tehran vehemently denied the charge and in turn accused Riyadh of war crimes in Yemen.

“The involvement of Iran in supplying missiles to the Houthis is a direct military aggression by the Iranian regime,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as saying during a telephone conversation with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. This “could be considered an act of war”, he said.

Iran dismisses claims

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking by phone with Mr. Johnson, dismissed the accusations, calling them “contrary to reality and dangerous”, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Mr. Zarif also slammed “provocative actions by the Saudi government in the region”, spokesman Bahram Ghassemi added.

An Iranian official on Monday had called the allegation that Iran sent missile to Yemen “childish”.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.