Houthis announce halting attacks against Saudi Arabia
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have announced halting all drone and missile attacks against Saudi Arabia a week after claiming responsibility for a strike that blasted a key Saudi oil facility.
On Friday, Mehdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthis' supreme council, declared the "halt of all attacks against the territory of Saudi Arabia."
He said the group is waiting for a "positive response" from Riyadh.
A Saudi-led military coalition did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the announcement.
The Shi’ite Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the September 14 attack on Saudi Arabia’s largest oil-producing facility, raising tensions to new heights in the already tense region.
Despite the Houthi claim, U.S. and Saudi officials blamed the attack on Tehran and have warned that all options, including military, remain on the table.
Iran denied involvement and warned the United States that any attack would lead to an "all-out war."
The incident followed a series of similar attacks by Houthi rebels against sites in Saudi Arabia over the past year.
The Yemeni government, supported by Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies, has been battling the Houthi rebels since 2015.
The civil war has killed thousands of civilians and caused shortages of food and medical care that have affected millions.
Many observers have called it a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The U.S. military said, on Friday, that President Donald Trump had authorized a “moderate” bolstering of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates following the attack on Saudi oil infrastructure.