Mohammed Ali al-Houthi dismissed Saudi accusations that the attacks had been carried out on the orders on Iran – at a time of growing tension between Tehran and Riyadh alongside its Western and regional allies. Saudi Arabia, leading a Western-backed Sunni Muslim coalition, intervened in neighboring Yemen in 2015 after the Houthis ousted the government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi from power in the capital Sanaa. The Houthis have stepped up attacks on the kingdom in the past two weeks – including a drone strike on two oil pumping stations near Riyadh – in a resurgence of tactics that had largely subsided since late last year amid U.N.-led peace efforts.
