The U.S.-designated terrorist Houthi movement, which controls much of northern Yemen, accused Saudi Arabia of launching airstrikes on Sana’a airport, raising concerns over a potential new escalation involving Iran’s proxy network.
Although the Houthis entered into a 2022 truce with the Saudi-led coalition opposing their rule, the group has repeatedly interfered with commercial shipping in the Red Sea since aligning itself with Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The latest exchange of military action could threaten to reignite open conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree described the strikes as “blatant aggression,” saying they brought an end to a period of reduced tensions. He warned that Saudi Arabia would face consequences and that the attack would not pass without a response. The Houthis also threatened to target King Khalid Airport in Riyadh. Iran’s Press TV wrote on X: “Iran condemns Saudi attack on Sana’a airport as breach of law, Yemen sovereignty.”
Smoke rises after an airstrike at Sanaa International Airport in Sanaa, Yemen, on July 13, 2026, in a screengrab taken from video. (Al Masirah Handout via Reuters)
The Houthi movement, also known as Ansar Allah, uses the official slogan: “God is great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse upon the Jews, Victory to Islam.”
Earlier Monday, the government’s defense ministry said the runway at Sanaa International Airport had been struck to stop an Iranian aircraft from landing. A spokesman for the armed forces later said the plane had instead landed at Houthi-controlled Hodeidah airport.
Salman Al-Ansari, a prominent Saudi geopolitical analyst, told INC News, “The Iranian-backed Houthi militia is now in a desperate position, attempting to demonstrate its usefulness to its Iranian masters amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran war.”
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi armed group has warned it could move to close the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait through missile and drone attacks if Gulf nations join the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. (Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)
He said, “This is an action taken by Yemen’s legitimate government in response to the violation of its airspace and sovereignty. It was not carried out by Saudi Arabia or the coalition. Yemeni forces struck the runway at Sana’a International Airport after the terrorist Houthi militia defied international law by allowing unauthorized Iranian flights into Yemen, despite measures intended to prevent the smuggling of weapons and explosives.”
According to Al-Ansari, “The Houthis know that these flights can land normally if they follow the agreed-upon route through a Jordanian airport, for inspection purposes. The Houthis are currently at one of their weakest points, particularly after Yemen’s legitimate government consolidated effective authority over 80% of the country’s territory. This is a marked departure from the past, when the legitimate government was fragmented between two rival camps.”
A Houthi rebel fighter fires in the air during a gathering aimed at mobilizing more fighters for their movement, in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019. The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of Sanaa by the Houthis, who drove out the internationally-recognized government. Months later, in March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched its air campaign to prevent the rebels from overrunning the country’s south. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel, Lebanon and other Sunni Gulf countries have expressed concerns about the Iranian regime’s plan to establish a so-called “Shiite crescent” that stretches from Iran to Lebanon and includes such terrorist proxies as the Houthis and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Al-Ansari noted that “By confronting the Houthis, Yemen’s legitimate government is not only defending its own sovereignty; it is helping safeguard the region and the wider world from Iran’s network of terrorist proxies.”
Nadwa Al-Dawsari, an expert on Yemen and an associate fellow at the Middle East Institute, told INC News that, “The Houthis’ warning that the strike on Sana’a airport ‘will not go unanswered’ should be taken seriously. But the significance of the incident extends well beyond the prospect of retaliation.”
She said, “The dispute was never really about civilian aviation or simply returning a Houthi delegation from Tehran. The Yemeni government had agreed to facilitate the delegation’s return aboard a Yemenia aircraft. The issue was the Iranian aircraft itself.”
Houthi terrorists walk over British and U.S. flags at a rally in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and the recent Houthi strikes on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden on Feb. 4, 2024, on the outskirts of Sana’a, Yemen. (Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)
She added that “By proceeding with the Mahan Air flight despite Yemeni objections and ensuring that it reached Houthi-controlled Yemen anyway, Iran and the Houthis were sending a political message: Tehran intends to normalize direct and public ties with Houthi-controlled Yemen and is willing to challenge the restrictions that have governed access to the country since 2015.”
The U.S. government sanctioned Mahan Air for its role in supplying weapons and technology to terrorist groups such as Hezbollah.
Al-Dawsari said, “What we are increasingly seeing is a pattern in which Iran and its proxies create facts on the ground, betting that regional and international actors have little appetite for escalation and will eventually adjust to them. We have seen the same approach in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Pro-Iran protesters brandish billboards depicting the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, flags of Yemen and Iran, weapons, and chant slogans as they take part in a rally held to condemn the US-Israel aerial attacks on Iran and killing the Iranian supreme leader and several military officials on March 1, 2026, in Sana’a, Yemen. (Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)
She said, “The episode also highlights the Houthis’ growing importance within Iran’s regional network. While other members of the Axis of Resistance have been weakened in recent years, the Houthis have emerged as Tehran’s most capable and strategically important partners, particularly in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa.”
According to Reuters, the Saudi government’s communication office did not immediately respond to the accusations.
Muhammad Al-Farah, a member of the Houthi Political Bureau, wrote on Telegram, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), that the alleged Saudi attack will lead to the Bab al-Mandab Strait joining the Strait of Hormuz with respect to disruption and possible closure. As a result, the price of a barrel of oil will rise to $200 and the attacks give the Houthis a reason to “strike back and liberate Yemen from occupation.”
President Donald Trump welcomes Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
A State Department spokesperson told INC News that, “We are aware of these reports and monitoring closely. The United States and Saudi Arabia share a strategic partnership that has only grown stronger under President Trump. The United States stands firmly with Saudi Arabia against Iranian aggression, including Iranian-supported Houthi attacks, and remains committed to the Kingdom’s security and regional stability.”
The spokesperson added, “We continue to actively enforce the Trump Administration’s designation of the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and condemn Iran’s flagrant violation of Yemen’s sovereignty in support of their Houthi proxies.
“The Administration’s National Security Strategy states that our core interests in the region include ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and preventing the export of terrorism. It is critical to continue efforts to counter the Iran-backed Houthis and other terrorist groups in Yemen who threaten these U.S. interests.”
