UK to provide limited military support to Saudi Arabia for defensive operations

The United Kingdom has agreed to provide limited military support to Saudi Arabia to help it repel attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, according to British Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Speaking to reporters as he flew to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Monday, Burnham said he had agreed that the Royal Air Force would provide air-to-air refuelling of Saudi planes.

“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 said.

The agreement is “time-limited” and will be kept under review, he added.

Saudi Arabia had asked for support from the UK after the conflict between the Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government reignited in recent weeks.

The Houthis have launched missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia, including one that targeted Riyadh on Saturday before being intercepted.

They have also advanced inside Yemen, seizing the crucial port city of Mocha and key Red Sea islands, allowing them to better monitor shipping traffic through the Bab al-Mandeb, through which some 12 percent of world trade normally passes.

Burnham said he was “acting to secure the interests of Britain and the wider region, because of course Saudi Arabia has been experiencing attacks, is looking at potential further disruption, and we need to keep those pathways [for oil] open”.

The UK mission will be limited to supporting Saudi aircraft defending the country from attack from drones and missiles rather than supporting strikes against the Houthis, the PA news agency reported. UK officials say the latest military agreement will start in the coming days and involve one RAF Voyager refuelling Saudi planes on “defensive” missions.

The UK and Saudi Arabia have been close military allies for decades, with London serving as one of the kingdom’s largest arms suppliers.

Earlier this year, the UK deployed its Sky Sabre air defence system to Saudi Arabia to help protect it from Iranian missile attacks during the United States and Israel’s war on Iran.