Article Image

IPFS News Link • Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia Says Lebanon, Iran Declare War

• http://news.antiwar.com, by Jason Ditz

Over the weekend, Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile fired by north Yemeni forces at their capital city. The missile was identified as a Burqan 2H, a Yemeni design, and Yemen's Defense Ministry confirmed firing it.

Rather than just the latest retaliation in Saudi Arabia's two and a half year war in Yemen, however, Saudi officials seem to be looking to turn the incident into the start of a region-wide war, saying it amounted to a declaration of war against them by both Lebanon and Iran.

This claim centers on Saudi claims, which appear to have started Monday but weren't mentioned over the weekend when the interception happened, that the missile was an "Iranian" missile, fired at the Saudi capital by Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, which is part of the Lebanese government.

This narrative aligns neatly with Saudi foreign policy goals, as they've long tried to present Yemen's Shi'ite Houthi movement as an Iranian proxy, and have been keen to pick fights with Hezbollah over the group's support for the Syrian government.


PurePatriot