Yemen’s Houthis have threatened Saudi Arabia’s airports and vital assets if Riyadh violate its airspace or attempt to attack it, as the Iran-backed rebels accused the kingdom of an airspace intrusion.
Yemen’s armed forces said on Friday they confronted Saudi “warplanes” that allegedly attempted to prevent an Iranian civilian aircraft from landing at Sanaa International Airport.
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Yemen’s Houthis declare ban on Israeli ships sailing the Red Sea
“We warn the criminal Saudi enemy against repeating any attempt to violate our airspace or any aggression targeting our country. Such actions will be met with a comprehensive response targeting its airports and vital interests on land and sea,” Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said in a video statement.
Saree said the rebels thwarted an attempt by Saudi warplanes to “infiltrate” Houthi-controlled airspace at 5:20am (02:20 GMT) in a bid “to prevent an Iranian civilian aircraft carrying more than 200 stranded, wounded and sick citizens” from landing at Sanaa.
Flights between Sanaa and Tehran will continue despite any “possible consequences,” he added.
Houthi media earlier reported that the aircraft successfully landed, adding that it headed back to Tehran carrying the Houthi delegation meant to attend the funeral of Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a United States-Israeli strikes that triggered the Iran war.
The rebels said its fighters were ready for “any options” and that “their fingers are on the trigger to implement directives aimed at breaking the Saudi-American siege”, without providing further details.
The renewed threats came months after the Saudi-backed government and the Houthis agreed to their largest prisoner exchange, confirmed in May, which includes seven Saudi nationals.
The Houthis have been at war with Yemen’s government since 2015 in a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and triggered a major humanitarian crisis in the country.
The Houthi rebels control Yemen’s capital Sanaa and much of the north, including most population centres, while the internationally-recognised government holds much of the south.
The fighting between the two sides has largely been frozen since a United Nations-negotiated truce in 2022.
<small>Source: Al Jazeera</small>
