Washington calls Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia ‘inappropriate’ and urges Yemeni group to engage in political process.
The United States says the Houthi armed group must appear willing to engage in a political process to achieve peace in Yemen, after weeks of renewed missile and drone attacks by the rebels. which is linked to Iran on Saudi Arabia.
Leaders of the Houthi movement must “stop the attack and start negotiations,” Ned Price, who is targeting the State Department, said Monday.
Saudi Arabia seized illegally in 2015 months after the Houthi rebels overthrew an internationally recognized government and then seized large oaths of the country’s territory, including the capital Sanaa.
The Houthis have launched attacks on Saudi territory in recent weeks amid new diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration to end the war that has affected the poorest country in the Middle East.
The Yemeni group has defended the cross-border attacks, saying they are in response to deadly Saudi airstrikes in the country. On Sunday, the group launched a drone and missile attack at a Saudi oil facility in the Eastern Province, pushing global oil prices to their highest level in two years.
The Houthis said they also attacked military targets in Saudi cities, Dammam, Asir and Jazan.
The Saudi-led coalition said most of the drones and missiles were seized en route to their targets and no casualties or loss of property were suffered from the attacks on Sunday.
The kingdom said Houthi’s attack on Saudi Aramco’s facility at Ras Tanura on Sunday focused on the security and sustainability of the world’s power supply.
The state department said the U.S. believed the latest attacks were carried out by Houthis and were “inappropriate and dangerous” and endangered civilians, including Americans.
The state department’s comments came hours before the Saudi-led coalition seized an armed drone launched by the Iranian-linked movement of Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia. Arabia, Saudi state media reported Tuesday.
Tit-for-tat attacks
The Houthi and Saudi Arabian movement has been involved in tit-for-tat attacks for years, with the rebels linked to Iran intensifying attacks in the past several weeks.
The renewed attacks on Saudi targets come after U.S. President Joe Biden stopped supporting Saudi offensive work in the Yemeni war. Washington, however, said it would continue to help Riyadh to protect itself from regional threats.
Washington also rejected a decision by former US President Donald Trump to put Houthis on a “terrorist list.”
The latest rise comes amid renewed diplomatic efforts by the U.S. and the United Nations to reach a halt that would be a way to resume political talks backed by the UN to end the conflict. .
Rights groups and international observers have criticized the Saudi-led war that killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed millions and pushed the poorest country in the Middle East into a humanitarian crisis. never seen.