Saudi Arabia and Houthis Trade Threats as Tensions Flare Again

Saudi Arabia and the Houthi group in Yemen are once again locked in a war of words and threats. The escalation began when the Houthis threatened on Friday to target Saudi airports and vital assets if the kingdom violates its airspace or attempts to attack it. The threat came after the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of trying to obstruct an Iranian aircraft. The warning follows a period of relative calm between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed rebel group. “We warn the criminal Saudi enemy against repeating any attempt to violate our airspace or any aggression targeting our country,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a video statement. “Such actions will be met with a comprehensive response targeting its airports and vital interests on land and at sea,” he added. Saree stated that his forces had used air defence missiles to prevent Saudi fighter jets from obstructing an Iranian civilian aircraft landing at Sanaa International Airport in Yemen. He said the plane was carrying more than 200 patients along with a Houthi delegation travelling to Tehran to attend the funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In response to the Houthi threats, Saudi authorities dismissed them as a distraction. “The Houthi statement against the Kingdom yesterday is merely an attempt to divert attention from their grave violations against the Yemeni people, as they try to export the economic catastrophe and suffering in Yemen that they have caused,” said coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki in a statement on Saturday. Al-Malki added that the group’s statement was “an extension of the escalation and hostile behaviour demonstrated by the Houthi militia and their attempts to undermine regional and international security.” He further vowed a response “with unprecedented determination and strength against any attempt to target the Kingdom, its citizens and residents, and national assets, or any attempt to violate the sovereignty of the Republic of Yemen.” The Houthis have been at war with the Yemeni government since 2015 in a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and triggered a major humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The Houthi rebels control the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and most of the north, including the majority of population centres. The internationally recognised government, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, controls much of the south. Fighting between the two sides has largely halted since a UN-brokered truce in 2022.