Houthis Hit Abha Airport After Saudi Strike on Sanaa
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- Houthis fired missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia's Abha International Airport on Monday in retaliation for airstrikes on Sanaa International Airport they blamed on Riyadh, with no casualties reported
- Yemen's internationally recognised government said the Sanaa strike targeted the runway to stop an Iranian Mahan Air flight from Tehran from landing; the Houthis said the plane was diverted to Hodeida Airport
- Houthi military spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Saree warned airlines against flying through Saudi airspace 'until the blockade on Sanaa International Airport is lifted' and called the Saudi strike the end of a period of 'de-escalation'
- Yemen's Defence Minister Gen Taher al-Aqili declared 'our patience has run out' and threatened appropriate response to Saudi aircraft violating Yemeni airspace; Yemen's government ordered all airports closed 'until further notice' and evacuated the area around Sanaa
- UN special envoy Hans Grundberg voiced concern about wider escalation and urged all sides to engage in dialogue to preserve 'the relative calm Yemen has experienced since 2022'
- The flare-up followed tensions earlier this month when Saudi planes allegedly stopped an Iranian plane carrying a Houthi delegation to Tehran for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's funeral, which the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council said it had denied permission for
Why it matters: This is the first major Houthi-Saudi exchange since the 2022 UN-brokered truce, and aviation on both sides is already hit: Sanaa airport was struck and evacuated, all Yemeni airports are closed until further notice, and the Houthis have explicitly warned commercial airlines off Saudi airspace. The stated trigger — Yemen denying landing rights to an Iranian Mahan Air flight ferrying a Houthi delegation home from Khamenei's funeral — ties the Yemen war directly to Iran's regional diplomacy and gives the UN envoy concrete grounds to fear a wider escalation.
