IRGC Chief-Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari on Sunday rejected Donald Trump’s claim that Iran was behind the missile attack on Riyadh, saying the claim is baseless.
“It is basically not possible for the Islamic Republic to transfer missile to Yemen. These missiles are made by Yemenis and their military industries,” General Jafari noted, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a funeral ceremony held in Tehran for General Qassem Soleimani’s father.
Iranian Defence Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami also rejected the allegations and said that the enemies use every opportunity to make accusations against Iran.
“The US blames Iran for every single development in the Middle East,” he told reporters during the same ceremony, saying such claims are not unlikely of the enemies.
“Does anyone ask the US what it is supplying Saudi Arabia with,” he asked.
Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted a ballistic missile fired over capital Riyadh by Houthi fighters from Yemen, an attack Trump immediately blamed on Iran.
The missile was brought down near King Khaled International Airport on the northern outskirts of the city and did not cause any casualties, state-owned Al Ekhbariya TV reported.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired the missile across Saudi Arabia’s southern border, according to several Houthi-owned media outlets, including Al-Masirah and SABA.
It is the first time a Houthi missile has come so close to a heavily populated area and appears to be the farthest such a missile has reached inside Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is around 620 miles (1,000km) north of the border with Yemen.
Responding to the attack, Trump immediately blamed Iran.
“A shot was just taken by Iran, in my opinion, at Saudi Arabia. And our system knocked it down,” the US President said, referring to the Patriot missile batteries Saudi Arabia has purchased from the US.
“That’s how good we are. Nobody makes what we make and now we’re selling it all over the world.”
