LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) – 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 U.S. 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.
Britain and Saudi Arabia have been close military allies for decades, with Britain serving as one of the kingdom’s largest arms suppliers.
Earlier this year, Britain deployed its Sky Sabre air defence system to Saudi Arabia to help protect it from Iranian missile attacks during the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.
For the new air-to-air refuelling support, Britain will deploy one Voyager plane in the coming days.
“That is a time-limited agreement in terms of the assistance that we will provide, but we will keep it under review,” he said, adding that Britain was “playing our part” in the Middle East also by supporting efforts to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, writing by Alistair Smout and Andrew MacAskill; editing by Kate Holton)
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