The Latest: Saudis say 21 wounded in attack by Yemeni rebels

WASHINGTON — The Latest on tensions between the U.S. and Iran and in the Persian Gulf (all times local):

2:10 a.m.

Saudi Arabia has raised the number of people wounded in a Yemeni rebel attack on an airport in the kingdom to 21. It had previously said a Syrian resident was also killed in the attack.

The airport in the southwestern town of Abha was struck shortly after 9 p.m. local time on Sunday.

Saudi Col. Turki al-Maliki did not say what type of weapon was used in the attack. The spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition waging war against Yemen’s Iranian-allied rebel Houthis noted that the rebels claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they used bomb-laden Qasef-2K drones.

The wounded include 13 Saudis, four Indians, two Egyptians and two Bangladeshis. Al-Maliki was quoted Monday on Saudi state TV saying 18 were hospitalized, two with serious burns.

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1 a.m.

The U.S. secretary of state says he will be talking to officials in the Persian Gulf as well as Asia and Europe as he sets out to build an international coalition against Iran.

Mike Pompeo travelled from Washington to Saudi Arabia on Sunday to begin a set of hastily arranged meetings designed to push back against what he calls the world’s largest state sponsor of terror.

Pompeo’s mission comes as the U.S. sends conflicting signals on Iran, ranging from bellicose to conciliatory and back again.

Amid the tough talk on Iran, Pompeo himself says the U.S. is prepared to negotiate with Iran, without preconditions, in a bid to ease tensions.

That said, new sanctions are to be announced Monday in a bid to force the Iranian leadership into talks.

The Associated Press