Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has accused Iran of an “act of war” after it allegedly supplied missiles to rebel militias in Yemen.
On Saturday, the Saudi military intercepted a ballistic missile they claim was fired towards the nation’s capital Riyadh by the Iran-allied Houthi militia.
Local media reported that fragments of the missile fell inside King Khaled International Airport on interception, although no casualties were reported.
The Crown Prince held a phone call with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson following the launch and said it would be shutting down all air, land and sea ports into Yemen – a move condemned by humanitarian groups.
A statement said: “The Crown Prince stressed that the involvement of the Iranian regime in supplying its Houthi militias with missiles is considered a direct military aggression by the Iranian regime and may be considered an act of war against the Kingdom.”
Iranian officials have fervently denied arming the Houthi – a religious-political movement which controls huge swathes of Yemen and is fighting a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s government.
Human Rights Watch branded the missile launch a “war crime”, but urged Saudi Arabia to re-open an aid lifeline into Yemen, arguing that some seven million civilians are suffering with disease and famine.
“This unlawful attack is no justification for Saudi Arabia to exacerbate Yemen’s humanitarian catastrophe by further restricting aid and access to the country,” the organisation said.
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Could World War 3 break out?
This most recent escalation has aggravated an already volatile situation in the Middle East, sparking fears that World War Three could soon be triggered.
Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir went as far as accusing Iran of declaring war.
“We see this as an act of war,” he told CNN. “Iran can not lob missiles at Saudi cities and towns and expect us not to take steps.”
Meanwhile, Iran has dismissed the claims as “false, irresponsible, destructive and provocative.”
The seriousness of the situation prompted US President Donald Trump to throw his hat into the ring.
He tweeted yesterday: “I have great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing some of those they are harshly treating have been ‘milking’ their country for years.”
The Saudi Press Agency also report that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has “expressed his condemnation of launching a ballistic missile by Houthi coup militias on the city of Riyadh.”
Elsewhere, World War Three fears continue to rise over the nuclear tensions between the US and North Korea.
A series of missile tests from the rogue nation and a bitter exchange of words between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un has left the two nations at a bitter stand-off.
However, Professor Michael Spagat, from the Department of Economics at Royal Holloway University of London, told Express.co.uk that a worldwide nuclear war remains unlikely – but not impossible.
He said: “If I say that I think it’s a really, really small possibility would you hear 0.001 per cent over the next century? Or 0.000000001 per cent? It’s hard to pin these things down.
“I do think that the developments in North Korea move the needle a tiny bit.
“That said, despite how things may appear to some people, we’re talking about fundamentally rational people on both sides.
“Both Trump and Kim are very far from being people I like or respect but I don’t think either one is just a crazy person who would like to have a nuclear exchange.”