Saudi Arabia vows to respond 'firmly' to Houthi attacks
Saudi Arabia vowed on Tuesday to respond "firmly" to attacks by Yemen's Houthis, after the Iran-backed fighters wounded 13 people in the kingdom in an assault using ballistic missiles and drones.
The Houthis have been engaged in renewed fighting with Saudi-backed government forces since Yemen's civil war reignited in July, when the group declared a maritime blockade on Riyadh and began targeting its ships in the Red Sea.
They seized control of Yemen's Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait last week, which has become vital as the wider U.S.-Iran war chokes the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi Arabia issued attack alerts Tuesday for Mecca -- the holy city's first of the Middle East war -- and Jeddah and Taif governorates, before quickly cancelling them.
The Saudi civil defence had earlier issued short-lived air-raid alerts in six regions.
The Houthis have also targeted the oil infrastructure of Saudi Arabia, the world's leading crude exporter, pushing global oil prices above the $100 threshold.
A Houthi strike in western Yemen on Monday killed eight government soldiers, according to two military sources.
The group also claimed a new large-scale attack using "dozens of ballistic missiles and drones" against King Khalid airbase in Khamis Mushait, in southern Saudi Arabia.
A Khamis Mushait resident told AFP he heard "intense blasts" which left fires burning for a "long time".
"Honestly, we couldn't sleep at all."
The Riyadh-led coalition confirmed Tuesday there had been missile and drone attacks the previous day on Khamis Mushait, Abha and Taif, reporting 13 civilians wounded and damage to seven houses and two vehicles.
Saudi Arabia responded with more than 50 strikes, as it had the day before, according to the Houthis.
As attacks continue, the United Nations Security Council was due to meet on Tuesday to discuss the Houthis' offensive, diplomatic sources said.
- 'Hostile and extremist' -
The coalition said it would deal with the attacks "firmly to protect the sovereignty of the Kingdom" and would take "all necessary operational measures to deter this... hostile and extremist approach".
While Saudi Arabia has conducted dozens of airstrikes on Houthi-held areas, it has failed so far to deter the fighters' lightning offensive.
Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was expected to hold talks with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Tuesday.
U.S. media reported last week that President Donald Trump had rejected a personal request from the Saudi crown prince to intervene in the war.
On Saturday, Trump said the Houthis had called Washington and asked the US not to get involved.
Hazem al-Assad from the Houthis' politburo said the "Yemeni response will continue and escalate as long as they (Saudi Arabia) persist in their aggression against our people".
The renewed fighting in Yemen comes as the wider regional war remains at a stalemate. But Trump on Monday said he was open to holding talks with Iran.
"The failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly. I will determine whether or not the U.S.A. will choose to engage -- The concept of which we are open to," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
Iran's top security chief Mohsen Rezaei responded by saying on X that "there will be no negotiations until Iran's conditions are met. That is all there is to it."
Tehran has repeatedly listed demands including war reparations and the lifting of sanctions as preconditions for ending the war and its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
- 'Catastrophic for the world' -
A proposed meeting between Gulf states and Iran over the future of Hormuz was postponed on Monday, with Tehran accusing Riyadh of using Yemen as a pretext to delay the talks.
On Tuesday, Qatar warned of dire consequences if Bab al-Mandab was closed.
Foreign ministry official Ibrahim Al Hashmi said shutting the strait would be "catastrophic for the entire world".
Tehran has long supported the Houthis, a member of its anti-Israel "axis of resistance", including with weapons and technology, but has denied any role in the current war.
The Houthis seized Yemen's capital Sanaa in 2014 at the outset of the civil war, driving the government to Aden in the south.
The following year, Saudi Arabia led a coalition to intervene on the side of the government, launching wave after wave of airstrikes as the conflict escalated into one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.
The U.N.'s migration agency said Monday that the renewed fighting in the Arab world's poorest country had forced 93,864 people to flee their homes.
Source: Agence France Presse
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