VARIOUS countries, including Egypt, have condemned the Houthi firing of seven missiles on Saudi cities including Riyadh. It is true that the Saudi air force managed to intercept all the missiles, yet the debris of one of these missiles fell on a house in Riyadh, killing an Egyptian expatriate and injuring two others. It is not the first time for the Houthi rebels to launch missiles against Saudi Arabia. However, some analysts considered Sunday's attack to be a new development in the war in Yemen, because of the launching by the Iran-supported militias of such a large number of missiles at the same time against different targets in the Kingdom. A few months ago, missiles were even launched on the Holy mosques in Mecca and Medina. The attacks greatly shocked the entire Muslim world because they were fired against the main holy sites of the Muslim nation, by a party that claimed to belong to the Islamic religion. Apparently, the aim is not so much to damage the holy sites as to terrorise visitors to the holy shrines and to question the ability of the Saudi authorities to safeguard those shrines. On more than one occasion, Iran has asked for the internationalisation of the guardianship of the holy shrines in Mecca and Medina, so as to end Saudi custodianship over them. This week's missile attack against several Saudi cities was meant to provoke public anger and to pressure the Saudi authorities to withdraw from the Yemeni war. However, Saudi Arabia, which is leading an international coalition against the Houthi rebels, made it clear that it would continue with the war to force the Houthis to resort to a political solution, if they wanted to reach a final settlement of the conflict. The aim of the war is to abort Iran's attempt to force its agenda on the region and at the same time to preserve Yemen's sovereignty and the legitimacy of the internationally-recognised government of Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir recently stated that the war in Yemen had been imposed on Saudi Arabia and was not a war of its choosing. No Arab country will tolerate Saudi Arabia's security to be threatened in this way. The Houthis as well as Iran should realise the huge price they would have to pay if they continue to launch missile attacks against Saudi territory. If the international community is really concerned about settling this bloody conflict and ending the misery of the Yemeni people who have suffered the most in this proxy war, it is its duty to pressure the Houthi rebels and Tehran to resort to political and diplomatic dialogue.
