Yemen’s Houthis threaten Saudi airports after alleging bid to block Iranian plane

• Houthis threaten Saudi airports & infrastructure.
• Threat follows alleged Saudi airspace violation.
• Iranian plane landing in Sanaa prompted incident.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement on Friday threatened to target Saudi Arabia’s airports and other vital infrastructure after alleging Saudi fighter jets violated Yemeni airspace while attempting to stop an Iranian civilian aircraft from landing in Sanaa.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said Saudi warplanes entered Yemeni airspace early on Friday as an Iranian passenger plane carrying more than 200 civilians, including stranded, wounded and sick Yemenis, was approaching Sanaa International Airport.

Saree alleged that Houthi air defence units responded by firing several surface-to-air missiles, forcing the Saudi aircraft to withdraw without preventing the landing.

Saudi Arabia did not immediately comment on the allegations, which could not be independently verified.

“We warn the criminal Saudi enemy against repeating any attempt to violate our airspace or any aggression targeting our country,” Saree said in a televised statement.

“Such actions will be met with a comprehensive response targeting its airports and vital interests on land and sea,” Saree said.

The Houthis also renewed accusations that Yemen has remained under a Saudi- and US-backed blockade for nearly 11 years, vowing to take “all legitimate steps” to end restrictions on the country, including control over Sanaa International Airport.

Saree said the flight was part of efforts to ease restrictions on Sanaa airport and that flights between Tehran and Sanaa would continue despite what the group described as attempts to disrupt them.

The statement called on Yemenis to maintain “general mobilisation and combat readiness” and said Houthi forces were prepared to carry out any directives issued by the group’s leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.

The threat comes despite a sharp decline in cross-border attacks since a UN-brokered truce took effect in 2022. Although Saudi Arabia and the Houthis have held intermittent negotiations aimed at ending Yemen’s long-running conflict, no comprehensive peace agreement has been reached.

Since late 2023, the Houthis have launched repeated missile and drone attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, saying the strikes are intended to support Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war. The attacks have drawn retaliatory strikes from the United States and its allies and have kept regional tensions elevated.