Saudi Arabia: 'We Are Not At War With Iran'

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal at a news conference in Riyadh in March. On Sunday, he said his country’s intervention in Yemen has been at the request of Yemen’s president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Photo: Faisal Al Nasser/Reuters

WSJ: Saudi Foreign Minister Says His Country ‘Not at War With Iran’

Yemen intervention aimed at protecting ‘the legitimacy of the state’

RIYADH—A top Saudi official said his country is “not at war with Iran” in Yemen, where it has led a coalition in airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels for more than two weeks.

Yemeni president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi “asked us to intervene to protect the legitimacy of the state and to stop the war declared by Houthis to occupy all of Yemen,” Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud Al Faisal told reporters Sunday after meeting with his French counterpart, Laurent Fabius, in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia shares a long border with Yemen to the south and has been leading a military campaign against the Shiite-linked Houthi militants with the aim of restoring the country’s president, who fled the southern port city of Aden for Riyadh last month.

Update #1: Saudi FM says Riyadh 'not at war with Iran' in Yemen -- Ahram/AFP
Update #2: Saudi FM: ‘We are not at war with Iran’ -- Al Arabiya

WNU Editor: They may not be at war .... but they are both positioning themselves just in case .... Iran, Saudi Arabia in tense buildup opposite Yemen’s Gulf of Aden shore: US air tankers refueling Saudi jets (Debka).

WNU Editor's Note: Correction to the title of this post. I accidentally wrote that Saudi Arabia and Iran are at war .... they are not.