Saudi Arabia charges Iran with ‘act of war,’ raising specter of conflict

The New York Times

LONDON — Saudi Arabia charged Monday that a missile fired at its capital from Yemen over the weekend was an “act of war” by Iran, in the sharpest escalation in nearly three decades of mounting hostility between the two regional rivals.

“We see this as an act of war,” the Saudi foreign minister, Adel Jubair, said in an interview on CNN. “Iran cannot lob missiles at Saudi cities and towns and expect us not to take steps.”

The accusation, which Iran denied, came a day after a wave of arrests in Saudi Arabia that appeared to complete the consolidation of power by the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, 32. Taken together, the two actions signaled a new aggressiveness by the prince both at home and abroad, as well as a new and more dangerous stage in the Saudi cold war with Iran for dominance in the region.

“Today, confrontation is the name of the game,” said Joseph Kechichian, a scholar at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, who is close to the royal family. “This young man, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is not willing to roll over and play dead. If you challenge him, he is saying, he is going to respond.”

The accusations raise the threat of a direct military clash between the two regional heavyweights at a time when they are already fighting proxy wars in Yemen and Syria, as well as battles for political power in Iraq and Lebanon. By the end of the day Monday, a Saudi minister was accusing Lebanon of declaring war against Saudi Arabia as well.

Even before the launching of the missile on Saturday, which was intercepted en route to Riyadh, the Saudi capital, the crown prince had staged another surprise demonstration of the kingdom’s newly aggressive posture toward Iran and Lebanon. The prince hosted a visit from Saudi Arabia’s chief Lebanese client, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who stunned the region by announcing his resignation, via video from Riyadh, in protest against Iran’s undue influence in Lebanese politics.

Even some of Mr. Hariri’s rivals speculated that his Saudi sponsors had pressured him into the statement.

The Saudi claims that Iran had provided the missile could not be independently verified.

Mr. Jubair, the foreign minister, said the missile had been smuggled into Yemen in parts, assembled in Yemen by operatives from Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran, and fired from Yemen by Hezbollah. Citing allegations of Hezbollah’s role, Thamer al-Sabhan, minister of state for Persian Gulf affairs, said Monday that Saudi Arabia considered the missile attack an act of war by Lebanon as well.

Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the top commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in Iran, called the accusation of Iranian involvement in the missile attack “baseless.”

American officials have previously accused Iran of arming its Yemeni allies, the Houthis. the revenue.

The deal also extends the current option agreement by one year, to Oct. 22, 2025. The Penguins will retain the ability to buy two years’ worth of extensions, but there will be none beyond that. Even if potential delays relating to public commitments on infrastructure, environmental issues and a proposed parking garage are taken into account, the deadline for full development can’t go beyond 2028.

“This has been a complex negotiation, and we reached an agreement that makes the option agreement better for the public,” Mayor Bill Peduto said in announcing the deal.

David Morehouse, the Penguins’ president and CEO, said the agreement will “pave the way for $750 million in private investment that will be truly transformative for Pittsburgh, creating a dynamic development that the region can be proud of — in addition to jobs, small business opportunities, affordable housing and community programs.”

The Penguins secured the development rights to the publicly owned land — and $15 million in credits to help pay for purchases — in the 2007 agreement to build PPG Paints Arena.

So far the team has used about $725,000 in credits — $500,000 to buy the land needed for the hotel built next to the new arena and the rest on extensions — meaning no money came out of its own pocket. Each of the extensions costs $75,000.

In the future, if extensions are needed, the Penguins will have to pay $6,000 an acre per month from their own resources.

Under the new deal, the credits will be used essentially to pay for the land that the Penguins will develop, estimated at a net of 17 to 18 acres, excluding open space and the proposed parking