Arab Coalition Says Saudi Arabia Has Thwarted Another Houthi Missile Attack

The Arab coalition engaged in battle with the Houthis in Yemen announced on Friday that Saudi air defense had intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards the city of Jazan, Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the Shiite Houthis, who are supported by Iran, declared in a statement on their news network, Al-Masirah, that they had launched a new missile of the 'Badr 1' type towards Jizan, claiming that this ballistic missile hit Jazan airport. AFP reports that it was unable to contact officials at the coastal Jazan airport in southern Saudi Arabia, but a review of flight schedules indicates that air traffic to this airport is still operating on time. Saudi Arabia considers the Islamic Republic of Iran to be the main supporter of the Houthi militants and claims that the weapons and missiles in the hands of the Houthis are supplied by Iran. However, Iran has denied these accusations. The news of the Houthis' missile launch comes as Turki al-Maliki, the spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen, accused Tehran on April 6 of supporting the Houthi missile attacks on Saudi territory and threatened Iran with retaliation for the Houthi missile attacks. Al-Maliki stated, 'We reserve the right to respond to Iran at the appropriate time and place.' Houthi missile attacks on Saudi Arabia have been ongoing for a long time and have drawn widespread condemnation from various countries. Previously, Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, stated that since the spring of 2015, when Riyadh formed a military coalition to defend the legitimate government of Yemen, the country has been targeted by 80 missiles fired by Houthi rebels. The United Nations Security Council has also condemned the multiple missile attacks by the Houthis on Saudi territory 'in the strongest possible terms' and stated that these actions pose 'a threat to the security of the entire region.' The Islamic Republic of Iran has denied any accusations of sending missile weapons to the Houthis in Yemen. Nevertheless, United Nations experts responsible for monitoring the implementation of Yemen sanctions visited Saudi Arabia twice, once in May and July 2017 and then in November and December of the same year, to investigate the remnants of ground-to-ground missiles fired by the Houthis at Saudi targets. These experts concluded that these weapons have Iranian origins and reached the Houthis after the Security Council sanctions began in March 2015. The Saudi coalition has intervened militarily to push back the Houthis and restore the Yemeni government to power, but the Houthis still control most of the western regions of the country, including the Yemeni capital. The Saudi military operations and their allies in Yemen have resulted in 10,000 deaths and 53,000 injuries so far.