KUWAIT CABINET BLASTS ESCALATING THREATS TO SAUDI

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 13, (Agencies): Kuwait Cabinet strongly condemned continued Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, which targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Fahad Airport in Dammam and Abha Airport in recent days, causing deaths and injuries among innocent civilians and material damage. In a statement following its weekly meeting chaired by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the Cabinet described the attacks as a flagrant violation of Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and international law.

The Cabinet called for a firm international stance to halt the attacks and hold those responsible accountable, reaffirming Kuwait’s full solidarity with Saudi Arabia and support for all measures it takes to protect its security, stability and sovereignty. It stressed that Saudi Arabia’s security is inseparable from that of Kuwait and the GCC countries, while extending Kuwait’s sincere condolences to the Saudi leadership, government and people, as well as the governments and peoples of the countries to which the victims belonged and their families. It also wished the injured a speedy recovery. The Cabinet was briefed on a phone call received by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al- Jaber Al-Sabah from Iraqi President Nizar Amedi on Monday.

The two sides reviewed the longstanding bilateral relations and ways to strengthen cooperation, discussed issues of mutual concern and exchanged views on regional and international developments, particularly the current situation in the region. They stressed the need to end escalation and return to dialogue and diplomacy to resolve outstanding issues. The Cabinet was also briefed on meetings held on Monday by His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah with Arab League Secretary- General Nabil Fahmy, who was visiting Kuwait officially. The talks focused on advancing joint Arab action and developing the Arab League’s mechanisms to better serve Arab causes and address current challenges, alongside regional developments and issues of mutual concern. The Cabinet heard a briefing from Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on the political and diplomatic efforts undertaken by the ministry and Kuwait’s diplomatic missions abroad to keep pace with the latest regional and international developments. In this context, it was informed of a telephone call received by the foreign minister on Sunday from Yemeni Foreign Minister and Minister of Expatriate Affairs Afrah Abdulaziz Al-Zouba.

During the call, he reiterated Kuwait’s support for Yemen’s legitimate government, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. The Cabinet discussed several items on its agenda, including reports and minutes of ministerial committees, approving a number of them and referring others to the relevant committees for further study and recommendations before completing the necessary procedures. Kuwait on Tuesday expressed its solidarity with Saudi Arabia at a time when Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group has stepped up attacks on the Gulf Arab kingdom’s civilian infrastructure, simultaneously condemning Iranian attacks targeting regional countries and commercial shipping traffic. The Iranian attacks throw into peril the security, stability and sovereignty of regional countries, while strikes on civilian infrastructure result in severe human casualties that constitute grave violation of international laws, Kuwait’s permanent representative to the UN Nasser Al-Heyn told UN Human Rights Council executive committee talks in Geneva. The Kuwaiti diplomat went on to reiterate his country’s “grave concerns” over the “economic, humanitarian and security” ramifications of these attacks, urging the need to ratchet up diplomacy in a bid to quell the unrest and resolve regional conflicts, he said.

On such consequences, he cited energy security and supply disruptions as “exacerbating the misery,” of people around the wider region, stressing the use of diplomacy as the only viable solution to ensure the region’s security and the safety of global maritime corridors, added the Kuwaiti diplomat. Elsewhere, ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC oil-producing countries participating in the Declaration of Cooperation (OPEC+) stressed the importance of protecting international maritime routes to ensure uninterrupted energy supplies. The ministers warned that current disruptions to energy flows have driven shipping and insurance costs to unprecedented levels, according to an OPEC press statement issued Tuesday following a meeting held Monday on the sidelines of the 17th International Energy Forum Ministerial Meeting and the World Energy Council’s 25th World Energy Congress in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. They reiterated the critical importance of safeguarding international maritime routes to ensure the uninterrupted flow of energy supplies. The ministers noted that current disruptions to energy flows have pushed shipping and insurance costs to unprecedented levels, exceeding one-third of the value of goods, hampering the timely and efficient transportation of crude oil and petroleum products and increasing inflationary pressures on the global economy. In Riyadh, the Saudi Cabinet warned on Tuesday that the Houthi militia would face the consequences of its repeated attacks on the Kingdom’s airports, Makkah and Madinah.

The warning came during a Cabinet session in Riyadh chaired by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammad bin Salman, according to a statement delivered by Saudi Minister of Media Salman Al-Dossary following the meeting. The Cabinet extended its deepest condolences to the families of victims of the attacks and wished the injured a speedy recovery. It praised the Saudi armed forces for their firm role in defending the homeland, safeguarding its achievements and resources, and deterring any aggression or threat to the Kingdom’s sovereignty and the safety of its citizens and residents. The Cabinet said Saudi Arabia would remain a land of security and stability, pursuing further progress and prosperity while continuing its efforts to promote peace and stability in the region and the world. It also commended the military operations carried out by the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen to neutralize the threat posed by the Houthi militia to the Yemeni people, international peace and security, global trade and international supply chains.

The Cabinet stressed that the Kingdom would not allow its security or freedom of maritime navigation in the Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab Strait to be threatened. It also expressed appreciation for the positions of brotherly and friendly countries and international organizations that condemned the militia’s actions. The Cabinet further praised the successful restoration of oil flows through the East-West Pipeline, attributing the achievement to the efforts of Saudi personnel. It said the rapid recovery demonstrated the resilience of the Kingdom’s energy system and its capacity to develop technical solutions and respond to emergencies, ensuring reliable supplies to international markets and supporting the global economy. Arab Coalition spokesman Major General Turki Al-Maliki said on Tuesday that the coalition’s Joint Forces Command had called on civilians to evacuate the Yemen Oil Company’s Al-Sabaha Central Station in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, for their safety. In a brief statement, Al-Maliki said the evacuation request was based on an illustrative map of the site.

Earlier, the coalition spokesman announced that a warning would be issued for civilians to evacuate a site in Sanaa ahead of a targeted operation. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels and a Saudi Arabia-led coalition on Tuesday threatened to carry out new strikes against each other, a fresh escalation in the widening crisis in the Middle East. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said on Telegram that any Saudi attack on Sanaa would be met with a “firm and painful” response in Riyadh. The area to be evacuated in western Sanaa, al-Subaha, is on a hill overlooking the capital. It is not a populated area, but the fuel station nearby is used by the public.

The back-and-forth threats come as Saudi Arabia is scrambling to determine how its air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired by the Houthis, including an attack on Riyadh’s international airport on Saturday that killed at least 13 people and wounded over 300. The latest conflict between the Saudis and the Houthis began last month after the rebels seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical waterway for the transport of Gulf oil and other goods at the southern end of the Red Sea off Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition, backing forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, has been trying to retake them.

Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called for the Houthis to immediately halt attacks on Saudi Arabia. “There is no justification for these attacks, and they cannot be accepted,” Abdelatty told Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a phone call Tuesday. Abdelatty also called for prioritizing diplomacy and a political solution to the conflict between Iran and the United States to avert “further escalation and instability” in the region, according to the Egyptian readout of the call. The Saudi-led coalition said earlier Tuesday that three drones were intercepted north of Riyadh.