Saudi Arabia s King Abdullah Airport
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthis in Yemen said 10 people were injured in two explosives-laden drone attacks on the airport by the Houthis late on Fridah and early on Saturday.
In a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry condemned the continuation of the Houthi militia’s “coward, terrorist” attacks against the Saudi lands.
“The repeated targeting of civil facilities and innocent civilians by the Houthi militia, including the airports in the southern part of the Kingdom, is considered a dangerous escalation and a threat to security and stability of the sisterly Saudi Arabia,” the statement said.
The ministry also warned that these attacks represent a “flagrant violation of the international humanitarian law and a threat to the lives of travelers and to the security and safety of civil aviation and freedom of air navigation”.
Egypt reiterated its full solidarity with Saudi Arabia in taking all measures needed to confront these attacks, the statement said, stressing that security and stability of the two countries are interconnected.
Saudi Arabia has been intercepting hundreds of drones and missiles launched by the Iran-backed Houthis over the past few years since the coalition intervened militarily in Yemen in 2015 to support the internationally recognised government.
Saudi Arabia and Iran started in September the first round of direct talks with the new Iranian government to reduce tensions, especially as their diplomatic ties have been cut since 2016.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan confirmed in early October that his government held its first round of direct talks with Iran’s new government last month, a part of a process that began earlier this year to reduce tensions.
This follows three rounds of direct talks hosted by Iraq in the period before Iran’s new President Ebrahim Raisi assumed the post last August.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told a news conference in Beirut on 7 October that talks between the two rivals have gone a “good distance,” according to Reuters.
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz expressed hope in September that the Saudi Iranian talks will lead to confidence building as he addressed world leaders during the 76th UN General Assembly.
Egypt has repeatedly expressed its full support for the coalition against the Houthi attacks, saying the movement’s practices further inflame the situation in Yemen.
The Houthis have rejected calls for a truce by the United Nations, the United States, and Saudi Arabia this year.
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