New Delhi: Saudi Arabia and the US shot down missiles fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen whose potential targets were Israel according to American authorities.
While the Saudis have previously intercepted missiles from Yemen over the years, including in 2021 when it downed three ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis, this is the first time it has struck down an attack against Israel.
The Houthis last week had fired five Iranian-provided cruise missiles and launched about 30 drones ‘potentially’ towards Israel along with 13 drone and rocket attacks against US bases in Iraq and Syria, according to the US officials.
The USS Carney — a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer which is now in the northern Red Sea — struck down four cruise missiles last week launched by the Houthis.
A fifth missile was intercepted by Saudi Arabia, while defending its airspace, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Saudi Arabia uses the Patriot Missile Defense system supplied by the US.
This comes at a time when Israel, a Jewish state, is engaged in a war against Hamas in Gaza.
On 7 October, Hamas militants had launched an unprecedented aerial and ground attack against Israel, in one of its biggest offensives since it came to power in Gaza in 2007. So far, more than 7,326 Palestinians and 1.400 Israelis have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
While Iran nor the Houthis have accepted responsibility for these attacks, Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder noted that while the US cannot confirm if Iran “explicitly ordered” the attacks, they believe Tehran is encouraging such attacks or removing restrictions against such launches.
Iranian Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani rejected these allegations, accusing the US of ‘wrongly placing the blame on Iran’.
Before the Hamas attack, Israel and Saudi Arabia were in the middle of talks to normalise ties. Many have speculated that the Palestinian militant group’s attacks were targeted at disrupting these talks. Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia paused talks on normalisation of ties with Israel.
The US, meanwhile, this week dispatched air defence systems to numerous countries in the Middle East. The Pentagon sent a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence, or Thaad, to Saudi Arabia, and Patriot surface-to-air missile systems to Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, according to media reports.
US bases and troops stationed across the Middle East have been facing a series of attacks in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed militias over the past two weeks.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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