Saudi-led coalition says it downed Houthi missiles and drones 

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen says it has intercepted three ballistic missiles and four drones launched by the Houthis toward Saudi Arabia.

Colonel Turki al-Maliki, a spokesperson for the coalition, said on Tuesday that the missiles were aimed at the kingdom’s Eastern Province and caused no casualties. He added that the drones had been headed toward the kingdom’s southern regions.

There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

Before the interceptions, Saudi Arabia’s civil defense agency issued emergency alerts in the Eastern Province and Al Kharj Governorate. After lifting them, the agency urged residents to avoid crowds, refrain from filming and call 911 in an emergency.

The coalition had reported the interception and destruction of three additional drones across the Riyadh and southern region on Monday evening.

The attacks came as senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met their Iranian counterparts in Tehran, in an effort to calm a regional conflict that began when the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran in February. That war has reignited the conflict in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia said the visit was meant to open negotiating channels to “prevent the return of military escalation”. The kingdom sent its defense minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, a younger brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Pakistan sent its army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Turkey sent its intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin.

Iranian state media published pictures of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, attending the meetings.

In a joint statement issued late on Monday, the four countries “agreed to continue the dialogue to strengthen cooperation amongst the four regional countries, including for peace and security in the region”, according to Iranian state media.

Pakistan and Qatar have led the mediation efforts between US and Iran, which produced an interim peace agreement in June.

Fighting between Iran and the US soon resumed, however, and conflict flared between the Iran-aligned Houthis and Saudi Arabia, opening a new front and deepening the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

The Houthis seized strategic areas along Yemen’s Red Sea coast from Saudi-backed government forces in a lightning offensive last month, prompting a counteroffensive. Saudi Arabia has since intensified its strikes on the group.

The Houthis have also struck Saudi airports, ports and oil facilities. An attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh this month killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 300, the deadliest attack on the kingdom in more than a decade.

Earlier on Monday, the Houthis claimed another attack on the Riyadh airport as well as crude oil pumping stations in the west and east of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-led coalition said the missiles were intercepted and destroyed.

It also said it launched retaliatory attacks, destroying five tunnels used to store ballistic missiles, four missile launchers and a missile depot.

The wider war has also restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and driven up oil and gasoline prices.

Egypt, a major financial and political partner of Saudi Arabia, has also moved closer to the fight. Its Parliament on Monday authorised the military to help defend the kingdom.