Iran and Israel’s Response to Attack on UAE; Saudi-led Coalition Bombs Houthi Positions

One day after Iranian-backed Yemeni Houthi group attacked several locations in the United Arab Emirates, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said that “military attacks are not a solution to the Yemen crisis” and called for “a calm atmosphere and distancing from continued tensions and cycles of violence and establishing peace and stability in the region.”

Saeed Khatibzadeh made this statement on Tuesday, Dey 28, in response to journalists’ questions about recent Yemen-related developments, but did not directly mention the latest attack by the Islamic Republic’s proxy group on Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE.

UAE police reported on Monday the explosion of three fuel tankers in the “Mussafah” area of Abu Dhabi and a partial explosion in the vicinity of Abu Dhabi’s new airport construction site, during which two Indian citizens and one Pakistani citizen were killed and six others wounded. The Iranian-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for these attacks.

The Saudi-led coalition also announced that it intercepted eight Houthi drones that were launched toward Saudi Arabia on Monday.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman’s call for “distancing from continued tensions and cycles of violence” comes while Iran’s state media continues to praise the drone attacks on the UAE, and the newspaper “Kayhan,” whose editor is appointed by Iran’s supreme leader, described the attack on Abu Dhabi airport in Tuesday’s edition as “significant” and characterized it as the result of “a precise, extraordinary, complex and effective operation.”

The newspaper wrote in its “Daily Note” that “with the attack on Abu Dhabi’s infrastructure, the Emiratis were completely surprised, thus validating the threat to the UAE and teaching this country a lesson.”

On Monday, coinciding with the announcement of the attack, the Farsnews Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, also stated that these actions constituted a “new practical warning” from the Houthis to the UAE.

Saeid Khatibzadeh emphasized in his Tuesday remarks Iran’s “readiness to cooperate and participate in any initiative that would lead to the end of Yemen’s seven-year war.”

These remarks by the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Ministry spokesman come as Iran gave a cold response to Saudi Arabia’s “Peace Initiative Plan” for Yemen in Farvardin (March-April) of this year and made its welcome conditional on several conditions.

Israel Offers Security and Intelligence Support to UAE

Following these developments, Israel’s Prime Minister proposed providing intelligence and security support to Abu Dhabi.

Naftali Bennett announced on Tuesday in a letter to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, that Israel is ready to provide intelligence and security assistance to protect Emirati citizens against attacks similar to Monday’s.

Bennett said he has ordered Israel’s security agencies to provide any assistance that Emirati counterparts need or the emirate desires. He said: “The world must stand against terrorism.”

The UAE normalized its relations with Israel in 2020, a move that met with Iran’s threatening response.

Saudi-led Coalition Airstrikes on Sana’a

Houthi rebel media outlets report that airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition on Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, in the past 24 hours have resulted in the deaths of at least 20 people, including civilians.

Reuters reported on Tuesday, Dey 28, quoting these media outlets and residents of areas under Houthi control, stating that this is one of the deadliest coalition airstrikes since 2019.

Saudi state media also announced that the coalition began airstrikes against bases and camps affiliated with the Houthi group in Sana’a on Tuesday morning.

According to Houthi media reports, one of these attacks targeted the home of Abdullah Qassem al-Junaid, the former head of the Houthi aviation school, in which he, his wife, his 25-year-old son, and other family members and unidentified individuals were killed.

Al-Junaid was one of more than 170 Houthi officials who in August was sentenced to death by firing squad in absentia by a court in Marib Province, one of the provinces controlled by the official Yemeni government supported by Saudi Arabia and internationally recognized, for “military coup and war crimes.”

These heavy airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition followed Monday’s missile and drone attack by Iran-allied Houthis on the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE also stated that the Houthi action would not go unpunished and that the country reserves for itself the “right to respond to terrorist attacks and criminal provocations.”

Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Advisor, also called the attack a “terrorist act” and emphasized that Washington will cooperate with the UAE and its other partners to punish those responsible for this action.

The United States and Britain strongly condemned the Houthi drone attack on the UAE, calling it a “terrorist” act, and António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, also condemned the incident while calling for restraint from all involved parties.

Meanwhile, it is reported that due to the Houthi attack on Abu Dhabi, which also resulted in the explosion of a fuel tank, oil prices on Tuesday reached their highest level in more than seven years, with North Sea Brent crude oil index rising to $88.13 per barrel.

Source: Radio Farda