Iran: Houthi missile attack on Riyadh ‘reaction’ to Saudi aggression

President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech during a vote of confidence session held for 12th term ministers at the Iranian parliament in Tehran, Iran on 15 August, 2017 [Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency]

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said today that missile attacks by Yemen’s Houthis targeting the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh were a reaction to what he called Saudi aggression.

“How should the Yemeni people react to bombardment of their country. So they are not allowed to use their own weapons? You stop the bombardment first and see if the Yemenis would not do the same,” Rouhani was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

Rouhani also said Saudi Arabia had made a “strategic mistake” by considering the United States and Israel as friends and Iran as an enemy.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s air defence forces announced that they had intercepted a ballistic missile fired from warring Yemen over the capital Riyadh.

The missile was brought down near King Khaled Airport on the northern outskirts of the city and did not cause any casualties, said Saudi state-owned Al Ekhbariya TV.

The Houthis had said the missile had struck it’s target.

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