RIYADH: A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia on Monday threatenedretaliation against Iran, accusing the country of being behind a barrage ofYemeni rebel missile attacks on the kingdom.
Saudi forces said they intercepted seven missiles on Sunday, including overthe capital Riyadh, in a deadly escalation that coincided with the thirdanniversary of the coalition´s intervention in Yemen.
Displaying wreckage at a news conference in Riyadh of what it said werefragments of those missiles, the coalition claimed forensic analysis showedthey were supplied to Huthi rebels by their ally Iran.
We “reserve the right to respond against Iran at the right time and rightplace”, coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki told reporters.
The missile strikes resulted in the first reported fatality from Huthi firein the Saudi capital.
Egyptian national Abdul-Moteleb Ahmed, 38, died instantly in his bed whenwhat appeared to be burning shrapnel struck his ramshackle room in Riyadh´sUm al-Hammam district, leaving a gaping hole in the roof, witnesses told byAFP at the site.
Three other Egyptian labourers in the same room were wounded andhospitalised, they said.
The Huthis said on their Al-Masirah television that Riyadh´s King KhalidInternational Airport was among the targets.
Malki alleged the Iran-aligned Huthi rebels in Sanaa were using the airportthere to launch missiles on Saudi territory, adding the coalition hadtargeted a “missiles shipment” at the facility.
Iran has repeatedly rejected claims it is arming the rebels.
*Show of strength *
A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen on March 26, 2015 to tryto restore the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after theShiite Huthis and their allies took over large parts of the country,including the capital Sanaa.
Hours after the missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, hundreds of thousands ofHuthi rebel supporters flooded the streets of Yemen´s capital Monday tomark three years of war.
Sanaa´s Sabaeen Square was a sea of Yemeni flags as rebel authoritiesordered all schools and government offices shut for the anniversary.
Huthi supporters carried portraits of rebel chief Abdulmalik al-Huthi andspeakers blasted out a fiery speech by Hassan Nasrallah, leader ofLebanon´s powerful Hezbollah Shiite movement, praising the “steadfastness”of the Yemeni people.
War songs, poems and speeches condemning the United States, the main armssupplier for the Saudi-led coalition, echoed across the square.
“No one can speak on behalf of the Yemeni people. The people taking to thestreets today are the real voice,” Ibtisam al-Mutawakel, head of a Huthicultural committee, told AFP.
About 10,000 Yemenis have been killed and 53,000 wounded since the start ofthe coalition intervention in Yemen, which triggered what the UnitedNations has called the world´s worst humanitarian crisis.
Despite the intervention the rebels remain in control of the capital,northern Yemen and the country´s largest port. – APP/AFP