TEHRAN/RIYADH/CAIRO: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that Iran is ready for diplomacy but will defend itself. While Iran is firmly committed to seeking a dignified peaceful resolution to the conflict, we are also fully prepared to defend ourselves, he wrote in an article published in the Financial Times.
He said the White House had shown no willingness to reach an understanding and that there was little reason to expect progress now. While Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that the US cannot expect dialogue with Iran while blockading and threatening it, according to state media.
Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei met parliament speaker Mohammed Baqer Ghalibaf and reviewed developments in the US-Israeli war, the state broadcaster IRIB reported. Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said on Wednesday it intercepted six drones launched towards the kingdom, including in the Medina region home to one of Islam's holiest cities.
Four drones launched towards the kingdom have been intercepted and destroyed, coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki posted on X, adding in a second post that the interceptions took place in Saudi Arabia's Eastern province, as well as Medina. Al-Malki, who did not specify who was behind the launches, later said another drone had been intercepted, also in the Eastern province.
On Wednesday evening, the coalition announced it had intercepted a sixth drone launched by the Houthis. The Houthis earlier denied having targeted the kingdom, with military spokesman Yahya Saree saying their forces had not carried out any operations deep in Saudi territory.
The Saudi energy ministry later on Wednesday said that falling debris from the successful interception of a drone targeting an oil facility killed two people and injured a further two. The attempted attack resulted in the deaths of two individuals, a Filipino and a Nepali, and injuries to two others, the ministry said in a statement.
It did not say who launched the drone aimed at Shaybah oil field near the UAE border. Within Yemen, the Houthis claimed an attack on Wednesday on a military camp near the airport in the southern city of Aden, where the Yemeni government is based.
A government military source and a local official said, The Houthis used missiles and drones to target a military base housing forces from the Saudi-led coalition at Al Rayyan airport, speaking on condition of anonymity. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that any interference in the Yemen war by Egypt or any other country would make the situation more difficult.
Egypt has sufficient experience to avoid entangling itself in such a highly complex conflict, said Iran's top diplomat in an interview with Iraqi state broadcaster Al-Iraqiya aired on Tuesday. Egypt's parliament on Monday delayed a debate on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's request to authorise military support for Saudi Arabia until next week.
Sisi had asked lawmakers to approve military support for Saudi Arabia if requested by the kingdom. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday that Cairo's proposed military support for Riyadh was to defend Saudi territory, and does not include an attack on Yemen, according to a statement from his office.