An Iranian envoy visited the rebel-held capital of Yemen last week to mark the start of what the Houthis are calling the start of direct flights between Sanaa and Tehran.
The Houthi-run Saba news agency posted photos of Iranian ambassador Ali Razaei in Sanaa. Released on Sunday, the photos are believed to have been taken before the start of the six-day funeral procession for Iran's former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The semi-official Iranian news agency Mehr confirmed an Iranian plane landed in Sanaa, commencing the first flights between Tehran and Sanaa in nearly a decade.
The airport in Sanaa has been largely destroyed and considered out of action since Israeli strikes in May, after the Houthis had launched an attack towards Israel.
After Friday's flights, Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council held an emergency meeting at which it declared the Iranian move a “flagrant violation of Yemen's sovereignty” and a “dangerous escalation”.
Houthi Deputy Foreign Minister Abdulwahid Abu Ras, who the Saba news agency showed meeting Mr Razaei, meanwhile praised Iran for “breaking the blockade imposed on Yemen”.
The same plane, flown by Iran's Mahan Air, landed in Tehran on Friday, a day before the funeral processions began, pictures shared by Saba showed. Mehr reported the flight was carrying a “delegation of senior officials”.
Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthis were engaged in peace talks under the UN's Military Co-ordination Committee framework, with a recent meeting in Amman, Jordan, that signalled de-escalation between the two sides.
Turki Al Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition created to fight the Houthis after their takeover of Yemen's capital Sanaa in 2014, said the coalition will respond with “unprecedented force” to any attacks on the kingdom.
