CAIRO — Six ballistic missiles targeting Saudi Arabia‘s port of Yanbu on the Red Sea and the southwestern city of Taif have been intercepted, a Saudi military spokesperson said Thursday, blaming Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen as fighting escalates. The Houthis later claimed they fired dozens of ballistic missiles and drones at the kingdom’s southwestern Jazan province. In recent days, they have been blamed for attempted attacks on the kingdom, including on Riyadh, the Saudi capital. The statement by Saudi Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, who is also the spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, followed alerts by Saudi civil defence authorities, who later noted the danger had passed. The fighting near the crucial Red Sea shipping corridor has worried global markets as the Houthis pursue a blockade of Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, with Iranian support. The new launches came as Yemen’s internationally recognized government prepared to take its turn addressing the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. The situation in the Arab world’s poorest country is grim as the fighting backed by the two Mideast powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia, has pulled Yemen back into civil war after four years of relative calm. Over 125,000 people have fled the fighting as a humanitarian crisis grows. While the Saudis have sought military support from allies, their key partner the United States has said it has been in contact with the Houthis and indicated it was sitting this fight out. The rebels have asserted they are targeting only the Saudis and said commercial shipping on the Red Sea otherwise faces no threat, but they have warned other nations against stepping in. Their new perch at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea after storming down Yemen’s coast this month gives them better surveillance of passing ships on one of the world’s busiest waterways. For the Houthis’ ally Iran, which has asserted control over the even busier Strait of Hormuz off its coast since the U.S. and Israel attacked it in February, the added pressure on shipping is welcome. ___ Anna reported from Jerusalem. Fatma Khaled And Cara Anna, The Associated Press
