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Sanaa and Abha hit
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport on Monday, after they accused Saudi Arabia of striking Sanaa International Airport earlier in the day.
The internationally recognized government in Yemen said the Sanaa airport strikes were meant to prevent an Iranian plane from landing, and Yemen’s defense minister Gen. Taher al-Aqili said on X that the airport’s runway was struck Monday to stop an Iranian plane transporting the Houthi delegation from returning from the funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree warned airlines against flying through Saudi airspace, saying these warnings should be taken “seriously until the blockade on Sanaa International Airport is lifted.”
The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting on the developments Monday afternoon, with U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for political affairs Khaled Khiari telling the 15-member council, “Yemen and the wider region cannot afford another cycle of escalation.”
Competing claims and warnings
In a video statement released shortly before the strikes, al-Aqili warned against infiltrating Yemeni airspace with Iranian aircraft, saying, “At this moment, we say that our patience has run out.”
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on Telegram that Saudi Arabia launched the airstrikes in what he called an “end to the de-escalation phase,” and warned that “this aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished.”
France 24 reported that the Yemen government claimed responsibility for the attack on the Houthi-held airport, saying it wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing, and it quoted Saree saying, “In response to this criminal Saudi aggression, the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a military operation targeting Abha International Airport.”
The BBC framed the earlier Sanaa airport disaster as a flare-up between the two sides, describing it as “one of the deadliest industrial accidents in Bangladesh in a decade,” which did not match the Yemen airport escalation described by the other outlets.
Truce risk and next steps
The latest escalation threatens to unravel a truce that has been holding since 2022 despite expiring, and France 24 said it came as tensions rose with the United States and Iran trading attacks impacting the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
“Yemen’s Houthis strike Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport with missiles and drones in a sharp escalation Yemen’s Houthis strike Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport with missiles and drones in a sharp escalation CAIRO (AP) — The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport on Monday in response to airstrikes they blamed on Saudi Arabia that struck Sanaa International Airport earlier in the day”
France 24 also reported that after the strikes on Sanaa, Rashad al-Alimi said he had “ordered that the scope of the confrontation not be expanded,” while the Houthis warned airlines against flying into Saudi airspace “until the blockade on Sanaa International Airport is lifted.”
The AP reported that the U.N. Security Council meeting included concern about the risk of a wider escalation, and Khaled Khiari urged “constructively engage in negotiations under UN auspices.”
The ABC News report added that the Yemeni defense ministry issued orders to evacuate the airport and surrounding areas, and it said Moammar bin Mutahar Al-Eryan described the Houthis as detaining an aircraft belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross at Sanaa airport and holding its pilot and co-pilot.
