Coalition: ‘We Have Carried Out Operations to Target Houthi Leaders’

Colonel Turki al-Malki. Reuters
Colonel Turki al-Malki. Reuters
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Coalition: ‘We Have Carried Out Operations to Target Houthi Leaders’

Colonel Turki al-Malki. Reuters
Colonel Turki al-Malki. Reuters

The leadership of the coalition forces in support of legitimacy in Yemen stressed targeting senior Houthi leaders during the past few days.

It said that it will reveal the details of these operations after confirming the information that it is currently gathering and said that Houthi militias are using "Sam-7" missiles.

The coalition’s leadership considered that the peace opportunity with the Iranian Houthi militias is still available if they abandon the coup project and agree on a political solution based on the three references, which are the Gulf initiative and its executive mechanism, the outputs of the comprehensive Yemeni national dialogue and Security Council resolution 2216.

It warned the militias from not bowing to the international will as it leads to the continuation of operations carried by coalition forces until it returns legitimacy to all the Yemeni territories.

Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki told a news conference that what happened lately, including killing former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, was as a turning point in the Yemeni conflict.

He noted that it revealed the true face of the criminal terrorist group, and the conflict has become open between the people and this group.

The Iranian Houthi militias have two options, either peace or war, Malki said, explaining that peace will take place only with the implementation of the political solution based on the three references or else war will continue.

Speaking at a news conference, Malki said the legitimate forces have knocked out a large number of military vehicles and arms depots for the Houthi militias. Moreover, they have seized weapons provided by Iran to the Houthis.

Maliki also revealed aerial photos showing a militiaman carrying a SAM-7 missile, who was targeted by Apache plane, the same plane that also targeted Houthi militia border posts.

He added that the Apache planes also destroyed military vehicles belonging to Houthis, as well as weapon depots and Houthi checkpoints.

He also said that the areas where Houthi ballistic missiles are being kept have been located and destroyed.

The coalition and Yemeni army are specifically focusing on eliminating Houthi bases near the Saudi Arabian border, he added.

Maliki also stressed the coalition’s humanitarian aid efforts through airdrops of aid in several parts of Yemen and the work of human rights organizations in Sana’a amid threats by Houthis.

The Arab Coalition has also distributed leaflets along with the Yemeni army to help those seeking safety, he said.



No Armed Groups Allowed in Lebanon, President Tells Hezbollah’s Ally Iran

In this photo, released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, right, meets with Iranian Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani, at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)
In this photo, released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, right, meets with Iranian Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani, at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)
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No Armed Groups Allowed in Lebanon, President Tells Hezbollah’s Ally Iran

In this photo, released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, right, meets with Iranian Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani, at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)
In this photo, released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, right, meets with Iranian Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani, at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)

No group in Lebanon is permitted to bear arms or rely on foreign backing, its president told a visiting senior Iranian official on Wednesday after the cabinet approved the goals of a US-backed roadmap to disarm the Iran-aligned Hezbollah group. 

During a meeting in Beirut with Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's top security body, Joseph Aoun warned against foreign interference in Lebanon's internal affairs, saying the country was open to cooperation with Iran but only within the bounds of national sovereignty and mutual respect. 

Larijani said the Islamic Republic supports Lebanon’s sovereignty and does not interfere in its decision-making. 

"Any decision taken by the Lebanese government in consultation with the resistance is respected by us," he said after separate talks with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, whose Amal movement is an ally of Hezbollah. 

By "resistance", Larijani was alluding to Hezbollah, which was founded in 1982, grew into a "state-within-a-state" force better armed than the Lebanese army and has repeatedly fought Israel over the decades. 

"Iran didn't bring any plan to Lebanon, the US did. Those intervening in Lebanese affairs are those dictating plans and deadlines", said Larijani. 

He said Lebanon should not "mix its enemies with its friends - your enemy is Israel, your friend is the resistance ... I recommend to Lebanon to always appreciate the value of resistance." 

Later on Wednesday, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said after meeting Larijani that recent remarks on Lebanon by Iranian officials including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were totally rejected by his government. He said the comments constituted a "violation" of the principle of mutual state sovereignty. 

Last week, Araghchi said Tehran supported any decision Hezbollah made and this was not the first attempt to strip the group of its arsenal. 

Ali Akbar Velayati, top adviser to Iran's supreme leader, also criticized the Lebanese government's move on disarmament. "If Hezbollah lays down its weapons, who will defend the lives, property, and honor of the Lebanese?" he said. 

The US submitted a plan through President Donald Trump's envoy to the region, Tom Barrack, setting out the most detailed steps yet for disarming Hezbollah, which has rejected mounting calls to disarm since its devastating war with Israel last year. 

Hezbollah has rejected repeated calls to relinquish its weaponry although it was seriously weakened in the war, with Israel killing most of its leadership in airstrikes and bombings. 

It was the climax of a conflict that began in October 2023 when the group opened fire at Israeli positions along Lebanon's southern frontier in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas at the start of the Gaza war. 

Aoun also said recent remarks by some Iranian officials had not been helpful, and reaffirmed that the Lebanese state and its armed forces were solely responsible for protecting all citizens.