[ARABNEWS] The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the
Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews...
movement said on Monday that ballistic missile attacks on Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
were a serious escalation and threat to regional and international security.
Coalition front man Col. Turki al-Malki told a news conference in Riyadh that Sunday’s missile attacks on the Saudi capital were a clear violation of international law and accused the Houthis of smuggling weapons from Iran.
The coalition threatened retaliation against Tehran, accusing it of being behind the multiple attacks on the Kingdom.
We "reserve the right to respond against Iran at the right time and right place," coalition front man Turki al-Malki told a news conference, calling the development a "dangerous escalation."
Saudi forces said they intercepted seven missiles on Sunday, including over the capital Riyadh, in a deadly escalation that coincided with the third anniversary of the coalition’s intervention in Yemen.
Displaying wreckage at a news conference in Riyadh of what it said were fragments of those ballistic missiles, the coalition claimed forensic analysis showed they were supplied to Houthi rebels by their ally Iran.
"The missiles launched against Saudi territory were smuggled from Iran," coalition front man Turki al-Malki told news hounds.
"Iran has become like an appendix in the body of the international community. Either they correct their evil path or the international community will correct it for them," he said.
Al-Maliki added Houthi rebels have fired 104 ballistic missiles towards Saudi Arabia and Iran exploits the al-Hudaydah Port in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...to smuggle ballistic weapons to the Houthis.
He also stated that Houthis are using Sanaa airport as a platform to train their militias and as a base to launch their Iranian-made "Sayyad" ballistic missiles.
Presenting the remnants of alleged Iranian-made missiles, al-Maliki described the possession of ballistic missiles by Houthi bully boyz as a "serious developmnet".
"Yemen has suffered from Iranian intervention and support for Houthi bully boyz to force a coup," he added.
The missile strikes resulted in the first reported fatality from Houthi fire in the Saudi capital.
Egyptian national Abdul-Moteleb Ahmed, 38, died instantly in his bed when what appeared to be burning shrapnel struck his ramshackle room in Riyadh’s Um al-Hammam district, leaving a gaping hole in the roof, witnesses said.
Three other Egyptian laborers in the same room were maimed and hospitalized, they said.
The Iran-aligned Houthis said on their al-Masirah television that Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport was among the targets.
Al-Maliki alleged the rebels in Sanaa were using the airport there to launch missiles on Saudi territory, adding the coalition had seized a number of smuggled weapons.
Iran has repeatedly denied arming the Houthis in Yemen, despite claims by the United States and Saudi Arabia that the evidence of an arms connection is irrefutable.