Saudi-iran tensions rise after missile attack

SAUDI ARABIA yesterday said it was shutting Yemen’s land, sea and air borders after accusing Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of a missile attack on its capital, as tension escalated between the kingdom and Tehran.

Saudi accused Iran of war crimes after a ballistic missile reportedly fired by the Shia rebels from Yemen landed near Riyadh’s international airport.

Late on Sunday, a helicopter carrying a prince and several senior Saudi officials crashed in Asir province near the Yemen border. Prince Mansour bin Moqren, the son of a former crown prince deposed by King Salman, died in the crash. He had been attempting to flee the country, Middle East Eye quoted sources as saying.

It came after a weekend of major political upheaval in the kingdom dubbed “the night of long knives”, which saw a purge of at least 38 princes, ministers, senior officials and businessmen.

Critics say Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 32, is attempting to wipe out the old guard, whom he sees as a threat to his rule. The UN has criti- cised the blocking of access to Yemen where seven million are on the brink of starvation. Last night, Saudi Arabia said that Lebanon had declared war against it because of “acts of aggression” against the kingdom by Hizbollah, the Lebanese Shia group.

Donald Trump, the US president, tweeted last night: “I have great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing. Some of those they are harshly treating have been ‘milking’ their country for years!”