Page 25 - bne IntelliNews Georgia country report November 2017

Eurasia
November 11, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 25
Houthi missile attack may amount to Iranian “act of war”, says Riyadh
bne IntelliNews
Saudi Arabia on November 6 accused Iran of being behind an attempted missile attack on Riyadh's international airport over the weekend that could constitute “an act of war”.
“Iran’s role and its direct command of its
Houthi [rebel] proxy [in Yemen] in this matter constitutes a clear act of aggression that targets neighbouring countries, and threatens peace and security in the region and globally,” the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen said in a statement. The attack, the coalition added, could be considered “an act of war against the kingdom of Saudi Arabia”.
This past year has been fraught with tension be- tween arch-rivals Riyadh and Tehran. The Saudis, somewhat wary of Iran's growing revival of its oil, gas and petrochemical power since the late 2015 nuclear deal led to the removal of crippling sanc- tions on its economy, stood full square behind US President Donald Trump when in late May during a visit to the Saudi capital he vilified Iran as the bogeyman of the Middle East. Then in early June, after the deadly terrorist attacks in Tehran on
the parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini, the Saudis were angered by statements from Iranian hardliners that linked the terrorism back to hostility towards Iran in Saudi Arabia. The two countries have also taken opposing sides in the ongoing blockade of Qatar led by Riyadh, with Iran helping Doha, accused by the Saudis of sup- porting terrorist groups and of being too close to Tehran, deal with disruptions to flight routes and vital supplies such as food deliveries.
The missile fired at the airport may have been a Scud missile such as this one shot down with Patriot missiles in the desert during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq.
Yemen’s Shiite Houthis rebels fired a missile at the airport in Riyadh on November 4 which as intercepted by Saudi air defences. Nevertheless, the explosion shook homes and was heard in the Saudi capital.
News agencies reported Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi coalition, as claiming that Iran had provided the Houthis with ballistic missiles, launchers, explosive-laden drones and sea mines.
But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hit back fiercely, accusing Saudi Arabia of “bombing Yemen to smithereens, killing thou- sands of innocents including babies, spreading cholera and famine, and of course blaming Iran.” On Twitter, he added that Riyadh “is engaged in wars of aggression, regional bullying, destabilis- ing behaviour and risky provocations. It blames Iran for the consequences.”
More than 10,000 men, women and children are thought to have died since Riyadh opened its offensive to place elected president Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi back in control of its neighbour. Houthi tribesmen swept into the capital Sana’a two years ago.
Iran has denied supplying missiles to the Houthis, saying the rebels now have their own missiles with improved range.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi also categorically denied that Iran had