Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced today that they launched missile and drone attacks against a “sensitive target” in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and against Aramco facilities at the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea.
The announcement was issued a few hours after Saudi Arabia reported that it had intercepted six ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis against the province of Ta’Tif and the port of Yanbu.
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Saudi authorities made no mention of an attack on the capital, Riyadh, nor of any casualties or damage in Taif or Yanbu.
Paris Sends Military Resources to Saudi Arabia
French President Emmanuel Macron announced that Paris will send “military assets” to protect the Yanbu region, which is a port of strategic importance to Saudi Arabia’s energy network.
“This is the agreement we reached with the Saudis: we will send military resources—that is, soldiers, radar, and defense systems—to protect the facilities, not to get involved in any conflict but to protect the facilities,” he emphasized in an interview with the television channels France 2 and TF1.
Yanbu is the main terminal for the export of Saudi crude oil to the Red Sea and allows Riyadh to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.
The French President also said that his country could become the target of an attempted attack by a drone equipped with explosives, similar to the one at the Leipzig airport in early August, which Germany attributes to Russia.
France has not experienced attacks of this kind, “but when you ask me if this could happen, my answer is yes,” Macron said. He added that Russia considers “Europe to be Ukraine’s strategic depth.”
Macron denied, however, that the CIA “briefed French intelligence” on a possible attack by Russian drones originating from the south of the country, as reported by various foreign media outlets. “I can deny that. The CIA did not inform the French intelligence services” about a possible Russian strike in southern Europe, he emphasized, noting, however, that “all sensitive facilities” in France have been placed under heightened security.
According to the French President, a new conscription of 300,000 men in Russia for the war against Ukraine “is a scenario that seems credible to us.”
“The message Russia is sending today is that it is ready to make even more sacrifices to take over the entire Donbas,” he added, estimating that since the start of the war in Ukraine, Russia has recorded 1.2 million dead and wounded.
80 Countries Appeal to the UN to Restore Free Navigation in the Gulf
Meanwhile, a coalition of 80 countries issued an appeal today calling for the restoration of freedom of navigation in the Gulf, condemning the attacks carried out by Iran and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, which are disrupting international maritime transport.
“We call for the full and immediate restoration of the rights and principles of navigation,” Bahrain’s Foreign Minister, Abdulatif bin Rashid Al Zayyani, told reporters as he read the joint statement adopted following a Security Council meeting.
Al-Zayani was flanked by dozens of his counterparts, as well as the High Representative of the European Union, Kaia Kallas.
“We unequivocally condemn the Houthis’ decision to reignite the conflict in Yemen, as well as their strikes against Saudi Arabia and their senseless attacks in the Red Sea,” the Bahraini minister emphasized, noting that the Houthis’ advance toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait would result in “increased risks to international shipping.”
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Source: KYPE/ANA-MPA
