Iran denies role in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Friday denied any involvement in the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, responding to Riyadh's accusation that Tehran "incited" the Houthi group to launch frequent strikes on the kingdom in recent days.

In a statement, Baghaei said Iran denies any claim that it has played a role in the Houthi operations, noting that the Houthis act on the basis of their own interests and assessments. Such a claim is not credible to those familiar with Iran's relations with its allies, he said.

The spokesman also stressed that Iran believes tensions serve no party's interests, and that Tehran has been working to help Saudi Arabia and the Houthis end hostilities through mediation.

Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Elkhereiji said Thursday that Saudi Arabia had proposed meeting the Houthis in Oman in July for consultations aimed at resolving differences and ending the conflict, but the Houthis rejected the proposal.

The Houthis have recently launched frequent missile and drone attacks on key targets in Saudi Arabia, including international airports and oil facilities. Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki Al-Maliki said Thursday that since October, Houthi attacks on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport have killed 17 people and injured 333 others.

Iran denies role in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia

The China-Africa relationship is mutually beneficial, with both sides supporting and reinforcing each other in very specific and special ways, said Botswana's President Duma Gideon Boko.

Boko made the comments during his six-day state visit to China, which began on Monday at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In an interview with China Media Group (CMG), Boko said China's technology and investment are helping African countries build industries around their natural resources, and that the partnership will deliver benefits to both Africa and China.

"The relationship is a mutually beneficial one. Each supports the other. Each reinforces, in very specific and special ways, the other. China has the technological capability. It has the financial resources to deploy in Africa. Africa has the natural resources, which it must first identify underground through precision exploration. Secondly, extract from the ground, quantify, monetize and also to now build industries out of these. And the partnership, the technology that China is able to bring into Africa, internalize that technology in Africa, will prove immensely beneficial to these African countries and to China," he said.

China-Africa ties benefit both sides: Botswana's president