UK agrees to provide defensive air-to-air refuelling support to Saudi Arabia

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on ⁠Monday he had ⁠agreed to a request ⁠from Saudi Arabia to provide defensive air-to-air refuelling for a limited time period, a move he described as helping to stabilise the wider region.

Riyadh requested support after the Houthis, who control ‌the most populous parts of Yemen, intensified their attacks on Saudi Arabia, a new front in the wider war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

“We have received a request from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for military support and on ⁠the advice of the defence secretary and the foreign secretary, last night ‌I agreed to that request for defensive air-to-air refuelling,” he told reporters as he travelled to New York for a ‌meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

“Because of course Saudi Arabia ⁠has been experiencing attack ... ⁠and we need to keep those pathways open, and hence our agreement to the ‌request,” he said.