SINGAPORE: Singapore has condemned recent attacks on Saudi Arabia, including on energy infrastructure and commercial vessels in the Red Sea, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson said on Sunday (Jul 26).
“It is imperative that navigational rights and freedoms are respected and upheld in accordance with international law as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and that the safety of seafarers and ships is ensured in accordance with the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS),” the spokesperson added.
“We urge all parties to exercise restraint and avoid actions that could further escalate tensions,” MFA said.
The ministry’s comments came after Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Sunday said they downed a Saudi drone over the northwest of Yemen, a day after the Yemeni group claimed it attacked oil facilities in the Gulf kingdom.
A day earlier, the Houthis had said they struck Saudi Aramco sites in Jizan and Yanbu, after Riyadh bombed Houthi targets on Friday.
A surface-to-air battery operated by Greek personnel in Saudi Arabia downed two ballistic missiles and a drone over Yanbu, the Greek air force media office said.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran could not be blamed for the escalation and offered to broker talks between the Houthis and Riyadh, saying “there is no military solution”.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels said on Jul 20 they would impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia in retaliation for what they said were Saudi attacks on Houthi-controlled infrastructure, including airports and ports.
The announcement followed an escalation in hostilities, including Houthi missile strikes on Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport after Yemen’s rebel-held Sanaa airport was hit.
Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition battling against the Houthis for more than a decade since the Iran-aligned fighters captured Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.
The Yemeni civil war, during which hundreds of thousands of people died from fighting and famine, has been paused under a ceasefire since 2022.
But that truce broke down in July, with the Houthis effectively joining the wider war their Iranian allies have waged since being attacked by the US and Israel.