Houthi Missile Attack: Morocco Renews Solidarity with KSA against Aggressors

Morocco has decried the attempted Houthi missile attack, which targeted Tuesday (Dec.19) the Saudi capital, and renewed its solidarity with Riyadh in its fight to ensure the security of its territories.

The North African Kingdom also voiced deep concern over “this dangerous escalation, which worsens the Yemeni crisis, undermines the region’s stability and increases the sufferings of the brotherly Yemeni people”, says a press release issued by the Moroccan Foreign Affairs ministry.

It is the third missile attack launched against Saudi Arabia by Houthi rebels in two months. According to Saudi officials, the missiles, intercepted by the Saudi air force, are supplied by Tehran.

The Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said: “this aggressive and arbitrary act by the armed Houthi Iranian group proves the continued involvement of the Iranian regime in supporting the Houthis … with the aim of threatening the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

He also said that “the control of Iranian-made ballistic weapons by terrorist organizations, including the Iran-backed Houthi armed militia, is a threat to regional and international security, and the targeting of populated cities is contrary to international humanitarian law.”

Last week, the US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley unveiled the remains of two missiles supplied by Iran to the Houthis. She said they are compelling evidences of Iran’s interference in Yemen.

Iran has flatly rejected  the US and Saudi accusations that it provided weapons to Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

“We have no arms deal with Yemen […] We reject the accusation that Iran supplies weapons to different groups [in the Middle East] and we strongly deny it,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghassemi, was quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency Isna on Wednesday (December 20th).

Some press reports say the missile attack may have been a response to Saudi air raids that the UN human rights commission said had led to 136 civilians being killed and another 87 injured in strikes on Sana’a, Saada, Hodeida, Marib and Taez governorates between December 6 and 16.

The fighting intensified after Houthi rebels killed Saleh, punishing him for switching to support the Saudis. The Houthis have since hunted down Saleh’s supporters in Sana’a.