Saudi Arabia was under a missile attack by Yemen's Houthis on Monday evening, hours after an explosion at a rebel-held airport in Sanaa.
The Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis said air defences “dealt with a threat from ballistic missiles”, launched by the rebels against the south of the kingdom.
Air strikes had earlier on Monday hit the international airport in Sanaa, the Houthi-held capital of Yemen. While the Yemeni government claimed responsibility, the rebels pointed the finger at Saudi Arabia.
In a release, the Houthis said the attack on Abha International Airport – which included the use of ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles – was in response to “criminal Saudi aggression”.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces warn all airlines against overflying the airspace of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and stress that these warnings should be taken seriously until the blockade on Sana'a International Airport is lifted,” it said.
The Houthis had vowed to retaliate and said the incident ended a “de-escalation phase” of Yemen's civil war. It is the latest blow to peace hopes in Yemen, where recent bouts of fighting have pierced the relative calm established by a 2022 ceasefire.
The UN special envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said his team was urging both sides to “refrain from any actions that would risk a new cycle of violence in Yemen”. The latest tensions were sparked by Iran landing a plane in Sanaa last week, sending an envoy to meet its Houthi allies.
On Monday, the Defence Ministry of Yemen's internationally recognised government had said it attacked the runway to prevent another Iranian aircraft from landing on Yemeni soil.
“The Houthi terrorist militias, supported by the Iranian regime, prevented Yemeni national aircraft from landing at the capital's airport, Sanaa, and insisted that the Iranian aircraft violate Yemeni airspace. Therefore, the airport runway was targeted,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Iran-backed Houthis took over Sanaa in 2014, prompting intervention by a Saudi-led coalition the following year, at the request of the Yemeni government.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out Monday's strikes. “We affirm that this aggression will not go unanswered and unpunished,” he said.
The group added that the attacks ended the de-escalation phase, and it said that Saudi Arabia “must bear the consequences of its aggression”.
In a separate statement, Houthi spokesman Mohamed Abdel Salam said the strikes were a “grave breach” of the 2022 ceasefire that had largely ended fighting. The rebels' transport minister told Al Masirah TV that the Iranian plane was carrying patients and stranded people.
Earlier on Monday, the Yemeni government's Defence Minister had said it had exhausted diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran and the Houthis to steer clear of Yemeni airspace.
He said government forces would respond to any hostile aircraft in Yemen's airspace “by all available means”, and that Iran would be held responsible.
Before the explosions, the Yemeni Ministry of Defence told local people, diplomatic staff and humanitarian workers to immediately leave the airport and its surroundings.
Separately, Yemen's Information Minister accused the Houthis on Monday of detaining an aircraft belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross at Sanaa airport and taking two crew members hostage.
The minister, Moammar Eryani, said the Houthis prevented the aircraft from departing and detained the pilot and his assistant. But the ICRC's spokesman for the Middle East, Hashem Osseiran, told The National that “all ICRC staff and the crew of the plane are safe and accounted for. We will not be providing further comment at this stage.”
Last week, Yemen's government said its forces repelled a Houthi assault south of the port city of Hodeidah, claiming they inflicted heavy casualties on the Iran-backed group in the most violent clashes in years.
Earlier this month, an Iranian envoy visited the rebel-held capital of Yemen, in what the Houthis called the start of direct flights between Sanaa and Tehran.
The Houthi-run Saba news agency posted photos of the Iranian ambassador Ali Razaei in Sanaa. The airport has been largely destroyed and considered out of action since Israeli strikes in May, after the Houthis launched an attack towards Israel.
On July 3, the Houthis said their forces confronted Saudi “warplanes” that they said attempted to prevent an Iranian civilian aircraft from landing at the airport.
The Iran-aligned group warned that they will attack “Saudi airports and vital interests on land and sea” if the Saudis continue what Mr Saree called breaches of Yemeni airspace.
Flights between Sanaa and Tehran will continue despite any “possible consequences”, he added.
