By FATMA KHALEDTuesday July 14, 2026
A new confrontation between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia raised fears of a broader regional flare-up Monday after the Iran-backed group said it fired missiles and drones at Abha International Airport in response to strikes on Sanaa International Airport.
No casualties were reported in either incident. But the exchange represented the sharpest escalation in years between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, whose Saudi-led coalition previously carried out strikes in Houthi-held territory. Saudi officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reported attacks in Yemen.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said in a video posted on Telegram that airlines should avoid Saudi airspace. He said the warning must be taken “seriously until the blockade on Sanaa International Airport is lifted.”
Yemen’s internationally recognized government said the strikes on Sanaa International Airport were intended to stop an Iranian aircraft from landing.
The Houthis promised retaliation, ending a period of relative calm and setting the stage for the first major escalation between the group and Saudi Arabia in some time.
At an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Monday afternoon, officials warned that the latest developments could trigger a wider conflict.
“Yemen and the wider region cannot afford another cycle of escalation,” U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for political affairs Khaled Khiari told the 15-member council. “We call on all actors to constructively engage in negotiations under UN auspices.”
A Saudi-led coalition operating from Yemen’s south has battled the Houthis, who control the north, for years.
Earlier Monday, Saree described the Saudi strikes as ending a phase of “de-escalation.” He said on Telegram that “this aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished.”
In a later Telegram message, Saree said the Sanaa strikes were intended to “close it to humanitarian flights carrying patients and stranded individuals to and from Sana’a International Airport.”
Yemen’s civil war erupted in 2014 after the Houthis captured the capital, Sanaa, along with much of northern Yemen, forcing the government into exile. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined a coalition that intervened the following year in an effort to restore the government. Earlier this year, strains grew between U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE as their long-running partnership in Yemen’s war unraveled, prompting the UAE to withdraw from Yemen.
Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, the official spokesman for the Saudi-led Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, said Monday evening on X that air defenses had confronted ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis toward the southern region. He gave no additional details.
The reported attack on Sanaa airport followed tensions earlier this month, when the Houthis accused Saudi aircraft of violating their airspace in an attempt to prevent an Iranian plane from taking a Houthi delegation to Tehran for the funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Yemen’s defense minister, Gen. Taher al-Aqili, wrote on X that Monday’s runway strike was meant to prevent an Iranian aircraft carrying the Houthi delegation from returning from the funeral.
In a video statement issued shortly before the strikes, al-Aqili cautioned against Iranian aircraft entering Yemeni airspace.
“At this moment, we say that our patience has run out. Accordingly, we will respond appropriately to this treacherous and brutal act, and we will confront and deal with the hostile aircraft violating Yemeni airspace and sovereignty by all available means,” he said.
The Houthis said the aircraft was diverted and landed at Hodeida Airport.
Footage aired by the Houthi-controlled al-Masirah broadcaster appeared to show a missile hitting a runway at Sanaa airport, followed by a powerful explosion.
The southern government said in a statement that every airport in Yemen was “closed until further notice, with immediate effect.” Yemen’s defense ministry ordered the evacuation of the airport and nearby areas.
Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s ruling Presidential Leadership Council, said Iran had sought permission for Mahan Air to operate a flight from Tehran to Sanaa to bring back the Houthi delegation.
The council said it rejected the request, adding in a Monday statement that the Houthis had demanded the Iranian flight be received “outside the legal and sovereign frameworks governing civil aviation.”
Hans Grundberg, the U.N.’s special envoy for Yemen, said his office was following developments in Yemeni airspace and voiced concern that the situation could escalate further. He urged all parties to pursue dialogue that protects the “relative calm Yemen has experienced since 2022.”
The Saudi-led coalition last targeted Houthi-controlled areas before a U.N. brokered truce to cease hostilities took effect in 2022.
