CAIRO (AP) — Saudi Arabia launched an investigation into how its air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebelsincluding an attack on Riyadh airport which killed at least 13 people and more than 300 injured, two regional officials said Monday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, said the initial investigation showed that Yemen’s Houthis first fired several drones to clear the way for a mix of cruise and ballistic missiles to reach Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport.
The Houthis possess ballistic missiles and advanced systems equipped with warheads capable of changing direction during flight and posing a challenge to Patriot interceptors and other defense systems used by the Saudis.
One of the officials said the investigation also aimed to discover why air defense systems did not warn earlier of the attack in which Houthi missiles and drones flew more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to reach Riyadh.
The incident, part of a series of Houthi attacks on Saudi airports since last week, highlighted vulnerabilities in the Saudi defense system and marked a dangerous inflection point in an expanding Middle East conflict that began more than seven months ago when the United States and Israel launched their offensive. war against Iran.
The Saudi-led coalition also said it had twice intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis towards Riyadh on Monday. At least three explosions could be heard Monday evening in the city. Civil protection officials later said the danger had passed.
The rebels later said they had targeted King Khalid Airport on Monday, warning international airlines that all Saudi airports except those in the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina were unsafe.
Earlier on Monday, Saudi state media reported that its military was responding to a new attack involving drones and cruise missiles, but provided no details.
“The events of recent weeks are serious,” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman said Monday at the World Petroleum Energy Congress in Riyadh. “Our response must be just as serious.”
The Saudi government-run Center for International Communication, which oversees foreign media, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the investigation into defense failures.
Saudi officials want more US help to counter Houthi attacks
The Saudis want the United States to become more directly involved in their fight against the Houthis. The United States provided intelligence sharing, target identification and planning for a Saudi-led offensive, but was reluctant to carry out strikes against the Houthis.
A US intervention could prompt the Houthis to attempt to stop maritime transport via the Bab el-Mandeb Strait located at the southern end of the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, restricting the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.
The flow of oil in the Middle East has already been complicated by Iranian efforts to choke off oil. Strait of Hormuzwhere about a fifth of the world’s oil flowed before the start of the war between the United States and Iran.
Rebels seized key areas along Bab el-Mandeb last month. The Saudi-led coalition, which supports forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, is trying to retake them.
American President Donald Trump Told reporters Saturday after the deadly airport strike that he was exploring the possibility of U.S. attacks against the Houthis.
Trump said Monday that he had spoken with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but gave no details about the call. He also said the Houthis were “behaving very badly” but did not say whether the United States would respond to the rebels.
Later Monday, when asked whether the United States would defend Saudi Arabia after the Houthi attacks, Trump replied: “You’ll find out soon.” »
The conflict comes at a delicate time for Trump, just weeks before the US midterm elections that will decide whether his Republican Party retains control of Congress.
Persistent inflation And high gas prices fueled by the ongoing conflict with Iran have pushed the United States to spread. disapproval of this war. Expanding US military involvement in the region risks further fueling voter resentment.
Houthis say Saudis launch new attacks
Yemen’s Houthi-run health ministry said Monday that airstrikes on a government compound and a house in the northern province of al-Jawf killed nine people, including five children and a woman, and injured seven others, according to the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency.
Houthi officials also said Saudi Arabia carried out new strikes on the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, killing one person and injuring 12 others.
Ministry spokeswoman Anees al-Asbahi said 107 Yemenis had been killed by the Saudi-led coalition since September 3 and 278 had been injured. More than 60% of the victims were women and children, he said.
Riyadh’s airport remained closed on Monday and workers in the capital’s financial district were asked to work from home.
However, the Saudis continued the second day of the World Petroleum Energy Congress on Monday.
UAE diplomat suggests Gulf allies jointly respond to Houthis
Separately, an Emirati diplomat on Monday called for “joint Gulf action” to defend against attacks by Iran and its allied groups.
Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE leadership, said Iran and its allies wrongly believed that Gulf Arabs were “the weakest link” in the US war against Iran, in which Tehran and its allies have repeatedly attacked Arab countries across the Gulf.
“It has become clear that we are all targeted and that our security is indivisible,” he wrote on social media.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Monday expressed concern over fighting between the Saudis and Houthis and said Iran would be ready to resolve differences.
“We are gravely concerned about the evolving situation in the Arabian Peninsula,” spokesman Esmail Baghaei said at his weekly press briefing. “We have repeatedly announced that we are ready to use our good offices to facilitate talks between the two parties.”
Baghaei said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, spoke by telephone on Sunday about the situation but did not provide details.
Funeral of Jordanian killed in airport attack
Dozens of mourners attended the funeral Monday of a Jordanian man killed in a missile attack on King Khalid International Airport.
Mahmoud Al-Barqawi, 33, who worked in a Riyadh cafe and was a father of two, was buried after a funeral procession began at a mosque in Amman.
His father, Hasan al Barqawi, said the family was struggling to get by.
“No one can truly feel the pain of this tragedy,” he said.
The strike also injured four Jordanian citizens.
The head of the Royal Court of Jordan, Yousef Al-Issawi, attended the funeral and offered his condolences on behalf of the king and the crown prince.
___
Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Jerusalem, Fatma Khaled in Cairo and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
Gn headline
