Saudi Arabia Awaits UN Probe Into Houthi Missiles

 Al-Mouallimi
Al-Mouallimi
TT

Saudi Arabia Awaits UN Probe Into Houthi Missiles

 Al-Mouallimi
Al-Mouallimi

Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Abdullah al-Mouallimi, told Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday that a committee tasked with following up on UN decisions was currently investigating the Iranian ballistic missiles in the framework of updating violations against UN Resolutions, adding that the Saudi side awaits the results of the probe.

Al-Mouallimi said that the Kingdom has already presented a letter to the Security Council concerning last Saturday’s ballistic missile fired from Yemen on King Khaled International Airport. Saudi defense forces intercepted the missile and brought it down near Riyadh airport without causing any casualties.

According to the Saudi diplomat, the Saudi letter shed lights on the attack and uncovered that the ballistic was an Iranian-made missile, which was sent to the Houthi militias in Yemen.

He also explained that the Saudi side had offered clarifications concerning the decision of temporarily closing all land, sea and airports in Yemen to stop Iranian weapons from reaching Houthi insurgents.

“We will soon deal differently with this issue. Those measures aim to respond to a certain situation. When the purpose of those measures ends, we will reopen those ports with introducing some needed amendments and reforms,” Al-Mouallimi said.

According to the Saudi diplomat, the Kingdom had also offered in its letter to the UN a clear condemnation of the Iranian violations to the UN Resolutions and asked the Security Council to take the needed measures facing those abuses.

Al-Mouallimi asserted that Saudi Arabia is not affected by any pressures or statements, and that it “does not rely on the media uproar that accompanies this or that event.”

He added: “Riyadh respects the official positions of the Security Council, which is still attached to Resolution 2216.”

On Thursday, member states at the Security Council strongly condemned the missile carried by Houthis on Riyadh and described the attack as provocative and as a violation to the related UN Security Council Resolution.



Taiwan’s Representative to Saudi Arabia: 260,000 Pagers Exported in Two Years

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

Taiwan’s Representative to Saudi Arabia: 260,000 Pagers Exported in Two Years

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Taiwan is investigating who is responsible for modifying the pagers that were turned into explosives in the hands of the Lebanese people, including members of Hezbollah.

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang told Asharq Al-Awsat that 260,000 pagers were exported from his country between 2022 and 2024, and 16 percent of them were sent to the United States and Europe.

He expressed his regret that the pagers were planted with explosives that were used in the attack in Lebanon last month, clarifying that the devices were not directly exported from Taiwan to Lebanon.

He explained that the components of the device are made of material that is not liable to explode.

Apollo Gold, the Taiwanese company that exported the pagers between 2022 and 2024, has never received any complaints that its devices have caused harm or exploded.

The attack in Lebanon has raised several questions and they are being probed by authorities in Taiwan, he went on to say.

One thing is for certain, the devices were not harmful in the shape they were exported from the country, stressed Chang.

Asked about whether the attack may harm Taiwan’s economy, he replied that his country’s industry sector has a strong reputation that will be difficult to undermine given the trust it has from clients.

The size of the sector and Taiwan’s investments cannot be measured by a small number of pagers, as they only make up a mere fraction in the country’s trade relations with countries all over the world, he stressed.

Separately, Chang revealed that Taiwan was considering cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the chip industry, saying he was optimistic over the broad potential for cooperation in the technology sector.

There are no limits to the cooperation between them, he added.

Taiwan constantly wants to maintain the relations and discuss opportunities for joint investments, he stated.

Taiwan was among the first countries to leap to cooperate with Saudi Arabia in all fields to help the Kingdom achieve its Vision 2030 that is spearheaded by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Chang said.