CAIRO (AP) — Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out airstrikes on Sanaa International Airport on Monday. The internationally recognized government in Yemen said the strikes were meant to prevent an Iranian plane from landing.
The Houthis vowed to retaliate for the strike, which marks the first major escalation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia following a relative calm in recent times. For years, a Saudi-led coalition
based in Yemen’s south has been fighting the Houthis in the north.
Houthi official, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said on Telegram that Saudi Arabia launched the airstrikes in what he called the end of a period of “de-escalation.” He warned that “this aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished.”
Saudi Arabian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the airstrikes in Yemen.
The attack comes after tensions between the two sides flared earlier this month when the Houthis accused Saudi planes of violating their airspace to try to prevent an Iranian plane carrying a Houthi delegation to Tehran for the funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Yemen's defense minister Gen. Taher al-Aqili said in a post on X that the airport’s runway was struck Monday to stop an Iranian plane carrying the Houthi delegation returning from the funeral.
In a video statement released shortly before the strikes, Al-Aqili warned against infiltrating Yemeni airspace with Iranian aircraft.
“At this moment, we say that our patience has run out. Accordingly, we will respond appropriately to this treacherous and brutal act, and we will confront and deal with the hostile aircraft violating Yemeni airspace and sovereignty by all available means,” he said.
The Houthis said the plane was diverted to Hodeida Airport where it landed.
Video footage by the Houthi-controlled al-Masirah broadcaster appeared to show a missile striking a runway at Sanaa airport followed by a loud explosion.
A statement from the government in the south said that all airports in Yemen were “closed until further notice, with immediate effect.” The Yemeni defense ministry issued orders to evacuate the airport and surrounding areas.
Rashad al-Alimi, who leads Yemen's ruling Presidential Leadership Council, said Iran had made a request to operate a flight by Iranian airline Mahan Air from Tehran to Sanaa to return the Houthi delegation.
The council, which denied the request, said in a statement Monday that Houthis had insisted on receiving the Iranian flight “outside the legal and sovereign frameworks governing civil aviation.”
Hans Grundberg, the U.N.'s special envoy for Yemen, said in a statement that his office is monitoring Yemeni airspace developments and expressed concern about the risk of wider escalation. He called on involved parties to engage in dialogue that preserves the “relative calm Yemen has experienced since 2022.”
Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition, including the UAE, intervened the following year to try to restore the government to power. Tensions rose earlier this year between U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE as their yearslong partnership in the war in Yemen broke down leading to the UAE pulling out of Yemen.
Houthi-controlled areas were last targeted by a Saudi-led coalition several years ago before a U.N. brokered truce to cease hostilities came into effect in 2022.
