Saudi Arabia has launched an investigation to determine how its air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, including an attack on Riyadh airport that killed at least 13 people and wounded over 300, two regional officials said Monday.
asserted
officials → launch → 300
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, said the initial probe showed that Yemen’s Houthis first fired multiple drones to pave the way for a mix of cruise and ballistic missiles to reach Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport.
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mix → speak → Airport
The Houthis possess ballistic missiles and advanced systems fitted with warheads that can change direction during flight and pose a challenge to Patriot interceptors and other defense systems used by the Saudis.
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that → possess → Saudis
One of the officials said the investigation also aims to find out why air defense systems did not provide earlier warning of the attack in which the Houthi missiles and drones flew over 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) to reach Riyadh.
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missiles → say → Riyadh
The incident, one of a string of Houthi attacks since last week on Saudi airports, has exposed vulnerabilities in Saudi Arabia’s defense system and signaled a dangerous inflection point in an expanding Mideast conflict that began more than seven months ago when the U.S. and Israel began their war against Iran.
“The events of recent weeks are serious,” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman told the World Petroleum Energy Congress in Riyadh on Monday.
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Salman → expose → Monday
The Saudi government-run Center for International Communication, which oversees foreign media, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the probe into defense failures.
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which → run → failures
Saudi officials want US to engage more actively in countering Houthi attacks
On Monday, Saudi state-run media reported that its military was responding to a new attack involving drones and cruise missiles, without providing details.
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military → want → details
The Saudis are looking to the U.S. to become more directly involved in their fight against the Houthis.
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Saudis → look → Houthis
The U.S. has provided intelligence sharing, target identification and planning for a Saudi-led offensive, but so far has held off on directly carrying out strikes against the Houthis.
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U.S. → provide → Houthis
A U.S. intervention could prompt the Houthis to try to halt shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea off Yemen, restricting the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.
uncertain
intervention → prompt → Gulf
The flow of Mideast oil has already been complicated by Iranian efforts to choke off the Strait of Hormuz, another waterway through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil flowed before the U.S.-Iran war started in late February.
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war → complicate → February
The rebels seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb last month.
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rebels → seize → Mandeb
The Saudi-led coalition, backing forces with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, has been trying to seize them back.
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coalition → lead → them
U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday told reporters after the deadly airport strike that he was looking at the possibility of carrying out U.S. attacks against the Houthis.
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he → tell → Houthis
But the conflict also comes at a delicate time for Trump, just weeks before U.S. midterm elections that will show whether his Republican Party keeps control of Congress.
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Party → come → Congress
Persistent inflation and high gas prices fueled by the ongoing conflict with Iran have driven widespread American disapproval of that war.
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inflation → fuel → war
Expanding U.S. military involvement to the Saudi-Houthi conflict comes with the risk of further stoking resentment in the American electorate.
asserted
Expanding → expand → electorate
Houthis say Saudis launch new attacks
Yemen’s Houthi-run health ministry said Monday that airstrikes on a government complex and a house in the northern province of al-Jawf killed nine people, including five children and a woman, and wounded seven others, according to the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency.
Houthi officials also said that Saudi Arabia carried out new strikes on the Yemen capital of Sanaa, killing one person and wounding 12.
uncertain
Arabia → say → 12
The Riyadh airport remained closed on Monday and workers in the capital’s financial district were told to work from home.
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workers → remain → home
Yet, the Saudis on Monday continued with the second day of the World Petroleum Congress.
UAE diplomat suggests Gulf allies respond to Houthis jointly
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allies → continue → Houthis
Separately, an Emirati diplomat on Monday called for “joint Gulf action” to defend Gulf countries against attacks by Iran and its allied groups.
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diplomat → call → Iran
Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the rulers of the United Arab Emirates, said Iran and its allies wrongly assessed that Gulf Arabs were “the weakest link” in the U.S. war against Iran, during which Tehran and its allies repeatedly attacked Arab countries on the other side of the Gulf.
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Tehran → say → Gulf
“It has become clear that we are all targeted, and that our security is indivisible,” he wrote on social media, adding that attacks on Saudi Arabia “undermine the security of the UAE and all Gulf states.”
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attacks → become → UAE
Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Monday expressed concern about fighting between the Saudis and Houthis and said Iran would be ready to settle disputes between them through diplomacy.
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Iran → express → diplomacy
“We are severely concerned about developments in the Arabian Peninsula,” Esmail Baghaei said at his weekly briefing.
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Baghaei → say → briefing
“We have many times announced readiness for applying our good offices in order to facilitate talks between the two sides.”
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We → announce → sides
Baghaei said that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, spoke by phone on Sunday about the situation but did not offer details.
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Araghchi → say → details
Speaking at a conference in Abu Dhabi focused on the postwar future of the Middle East, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the deadly Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia underscored that the U.S. has not yet achieved its objectives for the war against Iran.
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U.S. → speak → Iran
“We collectively have not yet achieved deterrence,” said Pompeo, who served as secretary of state and CIA director during Trump’s first term.
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who → achieve → term
“You have to crush the Iranian regime, period, full stop.
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You → have → regime
_
Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Jerusalem, Fatma Khaled in Cairo and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
asserted
writers → contribute → report
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