Yemen's legitimate government said it struck Houthi-controlled Sanaa airport on Monday, its biggest flare-up in years with the militants.
The government said it had wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing in the capital, after failing to convince a Houthi delegation that went to Tehran for the late Iranian supreme leader's funeral to board a Yemenia flight instead.
The latest escalation threatens to unravel a truce that has been holding since 2022 despite expiring, and comes at a time of heightened tensions as the United States and Iran trade attacks impacting the Gulf and traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
Yemen's Defense Ministry accused the Houthis of "allowing an Iranian plane to violate Yemeni territory; consequently, the airport runway was targeted".
Following the strikes, the head of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, Dr. Rashad al-Alimi, said he had "ordered that the scope of the confrontation not be expanded".
He held the Houthis “fully accountable for the escalation,” saying they had insisted on welcoming a new Iranian flight despite objections and attempts to contain the crisis and avert more tensions.
The government had run out of political and legal options before the arrival of the flight. He added that the government had offered to operate the flight through the Yemenia airline seeing as it is the national carrier.
The Houthis rejected the proposal and insisted on welcoming the Iranian plane outside official channels, stated al-Alimi, saying this was evidence that the militants “were not serving the people or easing their suffering, but deepening the division and imposing a status quo that serves foreign agendas.”
He ordered the army and security forces “to be on the highest level of alert and take the necessary political, diplomatic, legal and military measures allowed by the constitution and international law to protect Yemen’s airspace and land and sea ports.”
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Shaya al-Zindani held an extraordinary government meeting in the interim capital Aden to discuss the escalation.
The cabinet tasked the Foreign Ministry with intensifying its contacts with friendly nations and regional and international organizations to urge them against the use of Yemen’s airspace outside official channels.
It held the Houthis “fully responsible for the escalation and its consequences”, accusing them of “undermining peace efforts and exposing Yemen and the region to more dangers”.
It also held the Iranian regime responsible for the escalation given its continued support to the Houthis.
Ahead of the strike, the Defense Ministry had urged citizens to evacuate the airport and its vicinity for their safety.
It vowed that it would “deal with any party or plane that tries to violate Yemen’s airspace or orders issued by relevant authorities.”
Government authorities had for days warned that flights to Sanaa should only take place through state institutions.
Houthi sources later said the plane, which was carrying a Houthi delegation, landed in Hodeidah airport.
Yemeni authorities held the Houthis responsible for the escalation for insisting on imposing their own arrangements away from official regulations.
Monday’s escalation took place after the Houthis insisted on receiving Iranian flights at Sanaa airport amid the government’s refusal to operate flights outside official channels.
The United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, urged the parties to turn to diplomacy, saying his office has "contacted military representatives from all sides".
Earlier in the day, the Yemeni government accused the Houthis of preventing an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) aircraft from leaving Sanaa airport and holding the pilot and co-pilot "hostage".
"All ICRC staff and the crew of the plane are safe and accounted for," ICRC spokesman for the Middle East Hachem Osseiran told AFP.
