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Yemen06 October, 20262 min read

Iran’s Abbas Araghchi Offers Saudi-Houthi Dialogue After Phone Call With Prince Faisal bin Farhan

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Houthis strike a Riyadh Aramco facility with missiles and drones. Mecca Alliance countries activate collective defense, pledge rapid deployment to Saudi Arabia.

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Iran’s Abbas Araghchi Offers Saudi-Houthi Dialogue After Phone Call With Prince Faisal bin Farhan
Image: 巴士的報

Iran offers mediation

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke by phone with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and Tehran offered to help launch dialogue between Riyadh and the Houthi group. Araghchi expressed concern about escalating regional tensions and warned that continuing to rely on military solutions would further complicate the situation, stressing that regional crises cannot be solved by military means. Nejat (Najjar) Mortazavi, a political analyst at the Center for International Policy, told Al Jazeera that Iran’s offer to facilitate talks with Riyadh aims to position Iran as an indispensable party in a broader regional settlement.

Mortazavi added that Tehran seeks to end hostilities on various fronts, rather than settling for a pact limited to the U.S.-Iran confrontation, while fighting continues in Yemen and Lebanon. The Saudi Foreign Ministry confirmed the telephone call between the two ministers, saying it dealt with regional escalation and efforts to address it, without disclosing details of the diplomatic initiatives discussed.

Image from ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Image: ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Reporting for this sectionAl-Masry Al-Youm

Houthis, escalation, and casualties

The Houthis are an armed political and religious group from northern Yemen that champions the country’s Zaidi minority and formally known as Ansar Allah. The Houthis seized part of Yemen’s Red Sea coast near the Bab al-Mandab Strait in September, and their advance contributed to a further rise in oil prices following six months of war between the US, Israel and Iran. At least 13 people were killed when a missile hit Riyadh’s international airport on 10 October, and it was called the deadliest attack in the kingdom in more than a decade.

King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh suspended operations until October 17 following missile strikes that killed 13 people and injured more than 300 on Saturday. The King Fahd International Airport in Dammam was hit on Sunday evening, with damage being assessed by Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Civil Aviation.

Image from ABNA English
Image: ABNA English
Reporting for this sectionBBCThe National

Retaliation threats and diplomacy

Mohammed Al Bukhaiti, a Houthi political bureau member, warned that the group would retaliate against the United States and all its interests in the region if the Washington administration intervenes in the conflict in Yemen. Bukhaiti ordered all employees and workers at Saudi oil facilities and airports to stay away from these sites to avoid the risk of being attacked, according to the Vietnam.vn report. Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan that Tehran was ready to "provide assistance" to start talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis to reach a "political solution".

“I strongly condemn the horrific terrorist attack on King Khalid International Airport.”
Al-Quds

Haaretz said Saudi Arabia rejected an Israeli request, via American mediation, to involve Riyadh in the conflict with the Houthis. Netanyahu’s statement condemned the attack on King Khalid International Airport, saying, "I strongly condemn the horrific terrorist attack on King Khalid International Airport."

Reporting for this sectionVietnam.vnAl-Quds