The White House condemned on Wednesday the rocket attacks that Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militias are launching against Saudi Arabia.
“These missile systems were not present in Yemen before the conflict, and we call upon the United Nations to conduct a thorough examination of evidence that the Iranian regime is perpetuating the war in Yemen to advance its regional ambitions,” the White House said in a statement as US President Donald Trump began a visit to the Chinese capital.
It described the attacks as a threat to regional security.
The United States had on Tuesday accused Iran of supplying the Houthi insurgents with the missile that was fired against Saudi Arabia in July.
It called on the United Nations to hold Tehran responsible for violating two Security Council resolutions.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said that the Iranian Qaim rocket was fired against Saudi Arabia in the July attack.
By providing these missiles to the Houthi militias, Haley said Iran's Revolutionary Guard "is violating two UN resolutions simultaneously."
She said that Saturday rocket, which was intercepted over Saudi Arabia, may have also been manufactured in Iran.
“We urge the UN and international partners to take the necessary measure to hold the Iranian regime responsible for these violations,” she demanded.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, announced on Tuesday that Iran’s supply of rockets to militias in Yemen was an act of “direct military aggression” that could be an act of war.
Saudi Arabia said its air defense forces intercepted a ballistic missile fired from warring Yemen over the capital Riyadh on Saturday. No one was injured in the incident.
The missile, which was launched arbitrarily towards the capital, was aimed at civilian and residential targets. It was shot down by the Patriot surface-to-air missile system and its shrapnel landed in an uninhabited area east of the King Khaled International Airport.
The foreign ministers and chiefs of staff of the coalition in support of the legitimacy in Yemen had strongly condemned the attack and Iran’s negative role in supporting the insurgents.
