Allies unite behind Saudi Arabia as more Iranian flights restricted
· Yahoo NewsBy Hatem Maher and Eman Abouhassira
CAIRO/DUBAI, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani military chiefs were due to discuss support for Saudi Arabia as it faces mounting attacks from Yemen's Houthis, while restrictions on flights to and from Iran widened and a senior Iranian official threatened retaliation.
The Iran-aligned Houthis have stepped up attacks on the Saudi-backed government in Yemen and fired into Saudi Arabia, disrupting oil flows from the world's largest crude exporter as the wider Middle East war enters its eighth month.
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With fighting escalating in Yemen, ceasefire efforts stalled and direct US-Iranian fire easing, Washington has shifted to tightening economic pressure through secondary sanctions on foreign companies that do business with Iranian firms.
Iranian airlines were barred from neighbouring countries including the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Iraq in response to new US sanctions, marking the first major impact of the move.
A prolonged flight ban could deepen Iran's isolation and worsen an economic crisis already aggravated by a US blockade of its seaports.
Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, accused regional countries of "alignment with America" for blocking flights.
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"If Iran does not have the possibility to fly and receive airport services, then no country in the region will have this possibility either," he said in a social media post.
OIL EXPORTS SQUEEZED
The war, triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, has killed thousands of people and disrupted trade and energy supplies across the region.
While the fighting between the US and Iran has been stop-start, Iranian allies have mobilised, with Hezbollah attacks triggering an Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the Houthi advance in Yemen prompting a new humanitarian crisis.
Iran and its allies have significantly squeezed oil exports from Saudi Arabia, a US ally. The Houthis have disrupted ship traffic at the mouth of the Red Sea, while Iran has limited tanker traffic at the Strait of Hormuz, once the route for about a fifth of global oil exports.
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The Houthis said on Thursday they had fired dozens of missiles and drones at Saudi targets, while Saudi authorities said they intercepted six ballistic missiles.
Rashid al-Alimi, the Riyadh-based president of Yemen's Saudi-backed government, called on Yemenis on Friday to mobilise and join the armed forces and offered an amnesty to Houthi fighters who leave the group.
Amid the fighting, the Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish foreign ministers met on Thursday for discussions on support for the kingdom under a defence pact signed in August.
Turkey's defence ministry said Chief of General Staff General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu was travelling to Saudi Arabia on Friday to meet his Saudi and Pakistani counterparts.
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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the pact, under which an attack against one country is considered an attack on all, could lead to intelligence, logistical or ammunition support.
"More advanced military support could also be considered depending on the scale of the threat," Erdogan said in written responses to Newsweek.
The diplomatic pressure has also extended to China, Iran's biggest trading partner and a key buyer of its oil.
US Ambassador to China David Perdue said on Friday that President Donald Trump had reiterated to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House that any Chinese assistance to Iran would be unacceptable.
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"We made it very clear to them weeks ago that any help that they would give Iran, whether it be direct or indirect, whether it be intelligence or parts or military equipment, was totally unacceptable," Perdue told CNBC.
SHUTTLE DIPLOMACY IN NEW YORK
In New York, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told reporters on Thursday that Tehran had conveyed a proposal to the US via intermediaries under which the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened if Tehran's conditions were met.
Oil prices were more than 2.5% lower on Friday as hopes for a US-Iran truce outweighed concerns that escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia could further disrupt supplies.
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Under Iran's proposal, hostilities would end on all fronts, including Lebanon, within seven days. The US would lift its blockade on Iranian ports, release Iran's frozen funds and waive its oil sanctions, he said.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday that Tehran will show no flexibility over its nuclear programme even if the United States accepts its proposal.
(Reporting by Timour Azhari in Riyadh, Hatem Maher, Yasmine Ghania and Ahmed Tolba in Cairo, Kanishka Singh in Washington, Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; Writing by Aidan Lewis and Ros Russell; Editing by Gareth Jones, Alex Richardson and Andrew Heavens)