From the Liveblog of
Thursday, December 7, 2023
Riyadh urges restraint in US response to Iran-backed Houthi attacks in Red Sea — report
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Saudi Arabia has urged the United States to show restraint in responding to continued attacks on vessels in the Red Sea by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, Reuters reports.
Two sources familiar with Riyadh’s messaging say the kingdom is seeking to limit spillover from Israel’s war against Hamas following the terror group’s October 7 massacres in southern Israel.
This week, an hours-long missile assault by the Houthis on three commercial vessels in the Red Sea marked a significant escalation in a series of maritime attacks in the Middle East linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
A US warship shot down three drones in self-defense during the assault Sunday, the US military said. A day later, the US said it may establish a naval task force to escort commercial ships in the Red Sea
The Houthis have also fired several ballistic missiles and drones at Israel’s southern city of Eilat since the beginning of the war in October, including earlier today (Wednesday). All such attacks were intercepted or missed their targets.
The Iran-backed Houthis, who seized Yemen’s capital Sanaa in 2014 and control large swaths of the country, are “part of the axis of resistance” against Israel along with Hamas — which is also sponsored by Tehran.
The Times of Israel Community.