A few hours after Yemeni fighters targeted Saudi oil tankers and Abu Dhabi Airport, a senior member of the Houthis’ Political Council, in an interview with Iran’s state TV, threatened that they would further expand their attacks hereafter, and if Saudi Arabia and its allies did not put a stop to their attacks on Yemen, the Yemeni fighters would target their key political, economic and military zones.

al- Deilami’s interview with Iran’s state TV is to be aired in Saturday night.

Saudi Arabia suspend all shipments of crude oil passing through the Straits of Bab El-Mandab after two giant oil tankers belonging to the Saudi National Shipping Company, each carrying two million barrels of crude oil, was attacked by the Houthi fighters in the Red Sea on Wednesday morning after crossing the Straits of Bab El-Mandeb.

On Thursday, Houthi fighters attacked Abu Dhabi’s international airport in the United Arab Emirates with a drone. In same day Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said that the country will suspend all shipments of crude oil passing through the Straits of Mandab until “navigation becomes safe”.

After Trump’s threatening Tweet against Iran and the response of President Hassan Rouhani, saying that his country will respond in the event of oil sanctions or US military attack not only in the Strait of Hormuz but also in other strategic areas of the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, Yemen’s Houthi fighters’ operations in targeting Saudi oil tankers and stopping the transit of oil exports from the Strait of Bab-el-Mandab in the Red Sea was seen as a warning from Iran’s allies to the West.

“Yemeni political and military leaders have decided to target all oil and strategic areas of Saudi Arabia and the UAE hereafter,” a member of Ansar Allah’s (Houthi) Political Council Ibrahim al-Deilami told Iran’s state TV.

Yemen’s Houthi to UN: Stop the War or It Becomes Global

“Our factories and our facilities have been razed to the ground, and our ports and airports have been destroyed, so our enemies should be assured that the status quo will not be tolerated, and no point in these two countries will be safe henceforth. From now onward, we will attack their key military, political and economic zones, and the military bases at Jeddah and Riyadh airports will not be safe from our missiles and UAVs,” al-Deilami threatened.

General Abdullah al-Jafri, a spokesman for the Houthis also said the drone attack on Abu Dhabi airport showed the movement was capable of launching attacks against vital civilian infrastructure of the Saudi-Emirati-led military coalition battling the rebels in Yemen.

“Our attack on Abu Dhabi airport shows our forces are no paper tiger like our enemies claim,” Jafri told Al-Masirah TV on the phone.

Regarding attacks on Saudi Arabia and UAE’s oil exports as a new Yemen’s strategy to counteract the invaders, Al- Deilami warned foreign companies helping Saudi Arabia and the UAE economy.

“Oil wells and foreign companies helping enemies will not be safe either, and hence the equations of war will enter a new phase”, he told Iran’s state TV.

Answering a question on possible solutions to the Yemen war he laid stress on the fact that Yemen crisis would be solved only by putting an end to the Saudi aggression against Yemen and removing the country’s siege.

Expressing disappointment with the UN intervention to end the Yemeni crisis, he warned, “For the expediency of the United Nations we say that the continuation of the Yemeni war is not in the interest of the international community. And the international community must be aware that the continuation of war endangers the interest of many countries in Europe, Asia and elsewhere.”

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Just two days after the US Senate advanced Iran Sanctions Bill, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said putting Qatar under blockade had led to “unintended” humanitarian consequences and called on Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt “to ease the blockade.”

“We’re seeing shortages of food. Families are being forcibly separated, and children pulled out of school…Our expectation is that these countries will immediately take steps to de-escalate the situation and put forth a good faith effort to resolve their grievances they have with each other,” the US top diplomat said.

The call for easing Qatar’s blockade comes as, despite the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries, the US Senate unanimously approved a bill to tighten Iran sanctions on Wednesday. The sanctions not only have significantly hampered Iran’s international trade, but also created serious obstacles in the way of importing medicines, endangering the Iranian patients’ lives over the past decades.

Meanwhile, the US senior officials have repeatedly accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism with no solid evidence. In the latest case, US President Donald Trump called the Tehran twin attacks the fruits of Iran’s support for terrorism. The attacks, which left 17 dead and dozens injured, were claimed by the ISIS terrorist group.

Trump’s statements which sparked international criticisms across the world stand in direct contradiction with his presidential campaign promises. During his campaign Trump repeatedly blamed his predecessor, President Barack Obama, for supporting Saudi Arabia. He also praised Iran and Russia for their fight against ISIS.

But Trump dramatically changed his positions since taking office and particularly after signing a $110b arms deal with Saudi Arabia. Now, he not only remains silent towards Saudi Arabia as the ideological hub of terrorism, but also accuses Iran of sponsoring terrorism.

It seems that the US expresses concerns about terrorism and accuses certain states of sponsoring terror based on its trade ties with the regional states. With its significant trade relations with Saudi Arabia, the US has already closed its eyes to Riyadh’s dictatorship, violent acts and sponsoring terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda that was behind 9/11 attacks.

Interestingly enough, Washington is against Qatar blockade despite admitting its support for terrorists in Iraq and Syria. During his Friday statements, Tillerson said: “The nation of Qatar unfortunately has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level.”

He went on saying: “The emir of Qatar has made progress in halting financial support and expelling terrorist elements from his country, but he must do more and he must do it more quickly.”

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In an unprecedented move Persian Gulf states on Monday cut all diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates as well as Egypt all announced they were severing ties with gas-rich Qatar. Libya and Maldives also followed the Saudi alliance against Qatar.

To “protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism” Riyadh decided to “sever diplomatic and consular ties with Qatar, and to close all land, sea and aviation” links, a Saudi official cited by the official Saudi Press Agency said. Qatar’s foreign ministry called the other nations’ decision “unjustified” and vowed that the move would not affect the “normal lives of citizens and residents,” according to a statement reported by Al Jazeera.

Earlier this week, Qatar’s state-run news agency released comments attributed to Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on sensitive issues. The Qatari emir was quoted as describing Iran as an “Islamic power” and “big power in the stabilization of the region.” The Qatari government then said that the state agency had been hacked and that the remarks attributed to the emir and the foreign minister had never been made. But Saudi media continued attacking Qatar, accusing it of having “betrayed” the other Arab countries particularly at a time when they had attempted to stage a show of “unity” against Iran after Trump’s visit from Riyadh.

First Iranian reaction to the event came from the Political Deputy of Iran’s Presidential Office Hamid Aboutalebi calling the move by Saudi and its allies as the first outcome of Trump’s visit from Riyadh.

Some analysts do not rule out the possibility of a military action or a coup attempt against Qatar.

“I expect more radical moves against Qatar to come. A coup like the one Saudi planned against Egypt’s Mohammad Mursi and in the worst and least possible scenario a military attempt to occupy wealthy and strategic Qatar by Saudi alliance is possible,” Said Mojtaba Mousavi, Iranian political analyst.

“One could expect any radical move from new Saudi rulers who are bombing another neighbor, Yemen, for several years,” He added.

But the situation could also provide an opportunity for Tehran. “If Qatar and some other players can handle the situation to avoid a coup, this situation can be an extraordinary opportunity for Iran to have Doha in its front. Qatar now feels like being a blockade, people are queuing in front of shops and banks and Iran can be the closest and more plausible solution to bypass the blockade,” Mousavi said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi also warned about possible Saudi military attempt against Qatar and asked both sides to solve their differences through dialogue and avoid confrontation.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif asked Saudi to avoid coercion to reach its political aims. “Neighbors are permanent; geography can’t be changed. Coercion is never the solution. Dialog is imperative, especially during blessed Ramadan,” He tweeted.

In mean time, Iran expressed its readiness to supply Qatar with its food products. Saudi is Qatar’s main source of food supply and about 40% of Qatar’s food is believed to come via Saudi border which is closed now.

Head of the Iran’s Union of Agricultural Products Exporters said today that the country is ready to export its agricultural and food products to Qatar through the waterway and 3 Iranian ports. ” We have coordinated with Valfajr shipping company to export goods from Bushehr, Bandar Abbas and Bandar Lengeh ports,” he said.

In the other hand, some political observers believe the Saudi’s move is backed by the US. “It’s clearly an attempt to get the Qataris in line and not support Iran or the Muslim Brotherhood,” said Peter Sluglett, visiting research professor at the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore told CNBC.

In the case of Iran, he added, a key factor is the Trump administration’s threat to review a landmark deal that lifted most economic sanctions against Iran in return for curbing its nuclear and missile programs. “The Americans cannot unilaterally back out of the deal as it is the P5+1, so they are using the GCC and Egypt to put pressure on any countries supporting Iran,” Sluglett said.

– AFP, CNBC contributed to this report.

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Assessment and evaluation teams as well as Rescue teams from the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Basij and Police have been dispatched to the quake-stricken area, which is a sparsely populated rural area between the provincial cities of Saravan and Khash.

Initial assessments suggest 10%-15% damages to rural homes but modern building as well as historical places in Saravan were unaffected.

Mirmoradzehi, Representative of Saravan Province in Iran’s Majlis says local media has reported at least 40 killed in the county. Although Alireza Barahoi, manager of Sistan and Baluchistan province’s public relation’s office in an interview with the Iranian Nasim News Agency denied such reports saying “only 8 persons injured so far.”

The earthquake was felt from as far as some parts of Pakistan, India, UAE and Saudi Arabia. 

In UAE residential and commercial buildings and hospitals in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi have been evacuated.

At least 10 people were killed and more than 100 people were injured in Pakistan. local media reported almost 1000 residential and commercial building destroyed in result of today’s earthquake. a correspondent of Nasim, Iranian News Agency in Karachi, reported possible damages to the a atomic powerhouse of Chaghi district. 

Saravan County located in Sistan and Baluchistan province in Iran, near to the border with Pakistan. At the 2006 census, the county’s population was 239,950.

Almost one week ago, A 6.3 magnitude earthquake in southwest Iran’s Bushehr province killed 30 people and injured 800. 

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