RIYADH: Reports that Prince Sultan Air Base in Al-Kharj Governorate was targeted by an attack on Monday are untrue, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense said.
The statement from ministry spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki came after the government issued a brief warning in the early hours of the morning to people in the governorate, which was lifted minutes later.
He said air raid sirens that sounded in Al-Kharj on Monday morning were a precautionary measure following the launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen that disappeared near the border.
Later on Monday, Al-Maliki said the results of an investigation into the incident showed the missile was launched toward a regional country, and that due to technical reasons related to the ballistic missile, it failed and deviated from its course. The failure gave inaccurate indications of the target and it fell in an empty area near the Saudi-Yemeni border, he said.
At 5:28 a.m., Saudi Civil Defense had stated: “A warning has been issued by the National Early Warning Platform in Al-Kharj Governorate to warn of a danger.” Authorities urged members the public to follow official instructions, including advice to take shelter in a safe place.
Israel and Iran traded fire Monday for the first time since the Washington struck a ceasefire deal with Tehran two months ago. The attacks over the past 24 hours, the most direct confrontations between the countries since the truce, threatened to derail efforts by the US to reach an agreement with Iran to end their war, which began when the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran more than three months ago, on Feb. 28.
Throughout March, Saudi forces shot down Iranian drones and missiles that targeted the Kingdom in near-daily attacks as Tehran and its allied groups retaliated by attacking neighboring countries. Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations in the region condemned the Iranian attacks across the Middle East as “reckless and destabilizing.”
