Saudi-led coalition says it downed Houthi missiles, drones aimed at kingdom

The attacks come as top officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Pakistan and Iran meet in Tehran to de-escalate the regional conflict.

Iran and Mecca defence pact countries agree to further talks amid US war threats

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

Major-General Turki al-Maliki, the coalition spokesman, said on Tuesday that the missiles were aimed at the kingdom’s Eastern Province and caused no casualties. He added that the drones were headed towards the kingdom’s southern regions.

list 1 of 3 Houthis launch attacks on Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Aden

list 2 of 3 Saudi Arabia intercepts missiles and drones as fighting with Houthis rages

list 3 of 3 Saudi air defences intercept Houthi barrage near Mecca

There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

Before the interceptions, Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence agency issued emergency alerts in the Eastern Province and the 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, Turkiye 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 a war on Iran in February. The 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 defence minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud, a younger brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Pakistan sent its army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Turkiye sent its intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin.

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

Iran, Mecca alliance talks

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 the 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 on crude oil pumping stations in Saudi Arabia’s west and east. The Saudi-led coalition said the missiles were intercepted and destroyed.

It also said it launched retaliatory attacks, destroying five tunnels used by the Houthis 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 petrol prices.

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

袭击发生之际，沙特阿拉伯、土耳其、巴基斯坦和伊朗的高级官员正在德黑兰举行会议，以缓和地区冲突。

伊朗和麦加防务条约成员国同意在美国发出战争威胁之际继续举行会谈。

在也门作战的沙特领导的联军称，他们拦截了胡塞武装向沙特阿拉伯发射的三枚弹道导弹和四架无人机。

联军发言人图尔基·马利基少将周二表示，导弹的目标是沙特阿拉伯东部省份，没有造成人员伤亡。他还补充说，无人机正飞往沙特阿拉伯南部地区。

胡塞武装袭击沙特阿拉伯和也门亚丁（共3条记录，此为第1条）

沙特阿拉伯拦截导弹和无人机，与胡塞武装的战斗仍在继续（共3条，此为第2条）

沙特防空部队在麦加附近拦截胡塞武装的炮火（共3条记录，此为第3条）

胡塞武装方面暂未对此发表评论。

在拦截行动之前，沙特阿拉伯民防部门在东部省和哈尔杰省发布了紧急警报。解除警报后，该部门敦促居民避开人群，不要拍摄，并在紧急情况下拨打911。

周一晚间，联军报告称在利雅得和南部地区拦截并摧毁了另外三架无人机。

袭击发生之际，沙特阿拉伯、土耳其和巴基斯坦的高级官员正在德黑兰与伊朗同行会晤，试图缓和始于今年2月美国和以色列对伊朗发动战争的地区冲突。这场战争也重新点燃了也门的冲突。

沙特阿拉伯表示，此次访问旨在开启谈判渠道，以“防止军事冲突再次升级”。沙特派出了国防大臣哈立德·本·萨勒曼·阿勒沙特亲王，他是王储穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼的弟弟。巴基斯坦派出了陆军参谋长阿西姆·穆尼尔元帅，土耳其则派出了情报局长易卜拉欣·卡林。

伊朗国家媒体发布了伊朗总统马苏德·佩泽什基安、外交部长阿巴斯·阿拉格奇和最高国家安全委员会秘书穆赫辛·雷扎伊出席会议的照片。

伊朗与麦加联盟谈判

据伊朗国家媒体报道，这四个国家周一晚些时候发表联合声明，“同意继续对话，以加强四个地区国家之间的合作，包括为该地区的和平与安全做出贡献”。

巴基斯坦和卡塔尔牵头斡旋美国和伊朗之间的冲突，最终在6月份达成了一项临时和平协议。

然而，伊朗和美国之间的战斗很快再次爆发，伊朗支持的胡塞武装和沙特阿拉伯之间的冲突也随之爆发，开辟了新的战线，加剧了也门的人道主义危机。

上个月，胡塞武装发动闪电攻势，从沙特支持的也门政府军手中夺取了红海沿岸的战略要地，引发政府军的反攻。此后，沙特阿拉伯加大了对该组织的打击力度。

胡塞武装还袭击了沙特阿拉伯的机场、港口和石油设施。本月早些时候，利雅得哈立德国王国际机场遭到袭击，造成至少13人死亡，300多人受伤，这是十多年来沙特王国遭受的最致命的袭击。

周一早些时候，胡塞武装声称对利雅得机场以及沙特阿拉伯西部和东部的原油泵站发动了另一次袭击。沙特领导的联军表示，导弹已被拦截并摧毁。

声明还称，他们发动了报复性袭击，摧毁了胡塞武装用于储存弹道导弹的五条隧道、四个导弹发射器和一个导弹库。

更广泛的战争也限制了霍尔木兹海峡的航运，并推高了石油和汽油价格。

埃及是沙特阿拉伯重要的金融和政治伙伴，也已更积极地参与到这场战争中。周一，埃及议会授权军方协助保卫沙特王国。