TEHRAN/RIYADH: Iran has condemned Israel’s deadly retaliatory strike on the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida in Yemen that the rebels say killed six people and wounded dozens more.

Late on Saturday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani “strongly condemned” the attack saying it was “an expression of the aggressive behaviour of the child-killing Israeli regime”.

Kanani added that Israel and its supporters, including the United States, were “directly responsible for the dangerous and unpredictable consequences of the continued crimes in Gaza, as well as the attacks on Yemen”.

Regional tensions have soared since the start of the Israeli aggression in Gaza, drawing in Iran-backed groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen.

Saudi Arabia urges ‘maximum restraint’

Houthi rebels, along with the Hezbollah, and Hamas in Gaza are part of a Tehran-aligned “axis of resistance” against Israel and its allies.

Tehran has reiterated support for the groups but insisted they were independent in their decision-making and actions.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia urged restraint on Sunday in the wake of an Israeli strike in Yemen.

The Israeli attack “aggravates the current tension in the region and halts the ongoing efforts to end the war in Gaza,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement.

It “called on all parties to exercise maximum restrain and to distance the region and its people from the dangers of war.” Saudi Arabia mobilised an international military coalition against the Houthis in 2015, although a truce has largely held for the past two years.

Efforts by the kingdom to broker a Yemen peace deal have faltered in the wake of an anti-shipping campaign by the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The rebels have targeted nearly 90 ships since November which they say is to signal their solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has engaged in a delicate balancing act as the world’s biggest oil exporter tries to extricate itself from the war on its doorstep.

It has not joined a US-led naval coalition to deter Houthi attacks or participated in strikes on Yemen carried out by the US and Britain since January.

Sunday’s foreign ministry statement affirmed the kingdom’s “continuous support for peace efforts in Yemen to spare its people more suffering.”

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2024