Abu Dhabi: The missile and drones used by the Al Houthi militia to target Saudi Arabia’s oil port and facilities were supplied by Iran, said Brig. Gen. Turki Al Maliki, the official spokesperson of the Saudi-led Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, on Monday.
In an interview with Al Arabiya TV, Brig. Gen. Al Maliki added that the Arab Coalition forces have the ability to protect Saudi installations.
“The Saudi armed forces succeeded in bringing down explosive-laden drones,” the spokesperson said, stressing that Saudi Arabia has “the ability to intercept air and missile threats.”
The Saudi Ministry of Defence called the attempt to attack an oil tank yard at the Ras Tanura port and Saudi Aramco’s facilities in Dhahran a “cowardly terrorist attack that targeted the global energy supplies and security.”
Earlier, an official source in the Saudi energy ministry said that one of the oil tank yards at the Ras Tanura Port in the Eastern Province, one of the largest oil shipping ports in the world, was attacked, on Sunday morning, by an unmanned drone. The source pointed out that the attack, however, did not result in any injuries or loss of life or property.
Lauding the capabilities and efficiency of the coalition forces led by Saudi Arabia, Al Maliki noted that no country in the world can confront these attacks, like the Kingdom,” explaining that “Saudi Arabia has strong deterrence against any threat regardless of its source.”
Al Maliki accused the “Al Houthi militia of threatening maritime navigation in the Red Sea,” adding that “the militia is following the path of Al Qaida” in the region.
On the Houthi attack on Yemen’s Marib, Al-Maliki warned that “Houthi attacks threaten the civilian population,” adding that “the Houthi escalation in Marib is trying to undermine the efforts of the United Nations for a solution to the crisis in Yemen.”
On the Saudi response to the Houthi targeting of oil installations in the east of the Kingdom, Al Maliki said: “We are committed to the rules of international law in our operations, unlike the Al Houthi militia.”
