US air force official says Yemeni missile fired at Saudis ‘connects the dots to Iran’
Saudi Arabia has long accused Iran of supplying weapons to the Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their allies, though Tehran has denied it
Iran manufactured the ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Shiite rebels toward the Saudi capital and remnants of it bore “Iranian markings”, the top US Air Force official in the Middle East said on Friday, backing the kingdom’s earlier allegations.
The comments by Lieutenant General Jeffrey L. Harrigian, who oversees the Air Force’s Central Command in Qatar, further internationalises the years-long conflict in Yemen – the Arab world’s poorest country.
Saudi Arabia long has accused Iran of supplying weapons to the Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their allies, though Tehran has just as long denied supplying them.
“There have been Iranian markings on those missiles,” Harrigian told journalists at a news conference in Dubai ahead of the Dubai Air Show. “To me, that connects the dots to Iran.”
There was no immediate reaction from Tehran.
How they got it there is probably something that will continue to be investigated over time
Saudi Arabia says it shot down the missile November 4 near Riyadh’s international airport, the deepest yet to reach into the kingdom. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry later said investigators examining the remains of the rocket found evidence proving “the role of Iranian regime in manufacturing them.”
