Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of encouraging Houthis as attacks intensify

Saudi official says Iran continues to support Houthis in violation of UN Security Council resolutions

A Saudi foreign ministry official on Thursday accused Iran of encouraging the Houthis in their ongoing fight with the Kingdom, adding that Tehran continued to arm and train the group.

"Iran continues to arm, train and support the Houthi militia in violation of UN Security Council resolutions," Dr Rayed Krimly, deputy minister for public diplomacy at the foreign ministry, said during a virtual briefing with reporters.

He later added: "We think that the escalation by the Houthis at this latest stage of the conflict is encouraged by Iran."

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Krimly further stated that Saudi Arabia had reached out to Yemen's Houthis in recent weeks as fighting escalates between the two sides, but the group refused to meet in Oman.

"At the beginning of this escalation, we asked them to meet in Muscat, Oman, and they refused.

This was the last communication which happened a few weeks ago," Krimly said.

Saudi-led coalition says Houthis attempted to attack dozens of Saudi facilities

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said on Thursday that the country's Houthis had attempted to attack dozens of Saudi airports, ports and oil facilities, as fighting between the Iran-aligned group and Saudi Arabia ‌intensified.

The Houthis have been firing ballistic missiles and drones at key Saudi sites for a week, in response to the kingdom's backing of government forces in Yemen's renewed civil war. The coalition's latest statement highlighted the risk to Saudi civilian infrastructure as the conflict escalated.

Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said at a press conference that the Houthis ⁠had launched 20 attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh this month, killing 17 people and wounding 333 others. The airport, one of Saudi Arabia's main international aviation hubs, was among the civilian infrastructure targeted in what the coalition described as a series of attacks.

The coalition also said Houthi attacks on Abha airport, in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border, had killed three people and wounded 28.

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Maliki said the Houthis had acquired advanced military technology with the help of "regional actors," including ballistic missiles, drones and explosive-laden ‌fast ⁠boats.

The spokesperson also said the coalition had destroyed 127 weapons storage facilities and launch platforms in Yemen's mountainous areas.

He called on the Houthis to immediately halt operations targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, and said the group should read the coalition's statement carefully and "between the lines."

Shortly after the coalition's statement, ⁠the Houthi military spokesperson said Saudi airspace and airports were unsafe, renewing a warning to airlines while excluding airspace over the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since ⁠the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year. The UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted major fighting, and a de facto ⁠truce held even after it expired six months later. But efforts to turn it into a lasting political settlement have stalled as regional tensions have intensified.