Saudi Arabia Reports Destruction of Another Houthi Missile

A military spokesperson for Saudi Arabia announced on Monday, February 5, that the country's defense system intercepted a missile fired by Iranian-backed Houthi militants towards the city of Khamis Mushait. According to the Associated Press, Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led Arab coalition, stated that the missile was launched from the Saada region towards Khamis Mushait, located 160 kilometers from the border with Yemen. Al-Maliki accused the Houthi militants of targeting residential and civilian areas. He also claimed that Iran is violating international laws by enhancing the military capabilities of the Houthis. He urged the international community to hold Iran accountable for its support of the Houthis and its disregard for international laws. According to Al Arabiya, also affiliated with Saudi Arabia, Al-Maliki stated that the Houthis have launched a total of 95 ballistic missiles towards Saudi territory, all of which have been intercepted and destroyed by the country's defense systems. Saudi Arabia and the United States allege that Iran supplies the Houthis with missile technology, a claim that Iran denies. Reports indicate that UN experts have informed the Security Council that investigations into the remnants of ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis towards Saudi Arabia show that parts were manufactured in Iran. On January 12, the Associated Press reported, citing sections of a UN expert report and statements from diplomats, that Iran has provided missiles and drones to its allied Houthi fighters in Yemen, violating UN sanctions. Al-Maliki also announced that Iran has supplied the necessary weapons for attacks on the Bab al-Mandab Strait. He added that the Houthis are attacking the port of Hodeidah with bomb-laden boats, threatening global shipping in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Over the past year, US officials have repeatedly called for holding Iran accountable at the UN for supplying weapons to the Shiite Houthi militants in Yemen. Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, recently took 14 other Security Council members to a military depot in the Washington suburbs to view the remnants of a ballistic missile that the US claims was made in Iran and was fired by the Houthis towards Riyadh on November 4. Meanwhile, UN 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 that year to investigate the remnants of ground-to-ground missiles fired by the Houthis at Saudi targets. The experts concluded that these weapons have Iranian origins and that Iran supplied them to the Houthis after the onset of Security Council sanctions in March 2015. According to the UN report, referencing Security Council Resolution 2216, which emphasizes the prohibition of direct or indirect weapon supply to the Houthis and their allies, the committee found that the Islamic Republic of Iran violated this provision and did not exercise due caution in refraining from selling or transferring missiles and drones to the Houthis and supporters of Ali Abdullah Saleh. Iran has denied the allegations of supplying missiles to the Houthis. The Iranian Foreign Ministry accused Saudi Arabia of attempting to divert public opinion from its destabilizing actions in the region by distorting all facts.