Saudi-Iran standoff: Missile fired at palace highlights tensions
by Ali Arouzi and Alexander Smith (nbcnews.com) / Dec 19 2017
TEHRAN — A loud boom shook the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Tuesday as Patriot missiles whistled through the sky and intercepted an incoming rocket.
Rebels in neighboring Yemen said they had launched the rocket at Riyadh’s al-Yamama palace, where they claimed a meeting of Saudi leaders was taking place.
The rocket never reached its destination. The Saudi Arabian military said in a statement that it shot down the rocket using Patriot missiles, and that there were no injuries or damage. Far from an isolated incident, the rocket firing is the latest example of the tension between the regional powers of Saudi Arabia and neighboring Iran.
The nations are engaged in what experts view as several proxy wars in the Middle East that pit the Saudis, who are majority Sunni Muslims, against the mostly Shiite Iranians.
In Yemen, Saudi airstrikes are supporting government forces that are battling rebels, known as the Houthis, who have been linked to Iran.
Officials in Tehran support the Houthis but deny arming them. Saudi Arabia and the U.S., on the other hand, blame Iran for rocket attacks like the one on Tuesday.
PB/TK – Let’s not get involved in this one, take a step back and watch from a distance
