UN council condemns Yemen missile attacks on Saudi Arabia

Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (backgound-left), Crown Prince, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (background-right) look on as Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen, Mohamed al-Jaber (2nd-L) and United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Controller Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas (2nd-R) sign the Voluntary Financial Contribution Memorandum between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Nations to the 2018 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan at the United Nations on March 27, 2018 in New York. / AFP photo / Bryan R. Smith

 

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned “in the strongest possible terms” multiple missile attacks launched by Yemen’s Huthi rebels on Saudi Arabia, saying they posed a threat to regional security.

Saudi forces on Sunday intercepted seven missiles fired by Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels toward cities in Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh, killing one person.

Council members “expressed alarm at the stated intention of the Huthis to continue these attacks against Saudi Arabia, as well as to launch additional attacks against other states in the region,” said a council statement.

The council called for dialogue to reach a political settlement that would end the war in Yemen, now in its third year.

A Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 to push back the Huthis who captured the capital Sanaa and forced the government into exile.

The council statement came after a meeting between UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who presented a $930 million check to the United Nations for humanitarian aid to Yemen.

Guterres thanked the prince but stressed that a political solution was needed in Yemen, not just a humanitarian response.

© Agence France-Presse