Missile targeting Saudis was Iranian, confirms US Air Force

The top US Air Force officials in the Mideast says that the ballistic missile fired by Yemeni rebels that targeted the Saudi capital was from Iran and bore “Iranian markings.”

“What we have seen as a result of the ballistic missile attacks and there were Iranian markings also that was inventoried by the Arab coalition… all the dots now connect to Iran in terms of supplying missiles and the capability”, said General Steven Wilson, vice-chief of staff of the US Air Force, to Al Arabiya English.

Lt. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, who oversees the Air Forces Central Command in Qatar, also made similar comments on Friday at a news conference in Dubai.

Harrigian said authorities were investigating how the missile was smuggled into Yemen amid a Saudi-led coalition controlling the country's airspace, ports and borders.

Previously, the White House has condemned the missile attack by Yemen's Houthi militias on Saudi Arabia on 4 November, and said Iran "enabled" the attacks which had threatened stability in the Middle East.

"Houthi missile attacks against Saudi Arabia, enabled by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, threaten regional security and undermine UN efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict," it has said in a statement.

Saudi Crown Prince: Iran missile supply to Houthis ‘direct military aggression’

Saudi Arabia has said that the ballistic missile had a range of more than 900 km and was made in Iran, describing that attack as an “act of war”.

The Yemeni rebels said they hit Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport to the north of Riyadh with a Burkan-2H ballistic missile and released a video that purportedly showed the missile being launched at night.

The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that air defenses had intercepted the missile before it hit the airport and its remnants landed in an uninhabited area north of the capital.

source: Alarabiya