UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg warned on Tuesday that escalation in the Middle East risks spiraling out of control, adding that the Iran-backed Houthis must immediately cease attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and global waterway.
“The military escalation in the Middle East that we have witnessed for a year now, keeps intensifying and risks spiraling out of control,” Grundberg said in a briefing to the Security Council.
He noted that the safety of United Nations personnel has been increasingly at risk.
The envoy said it has been a particularly difficult year for UN personnel in the region and particularly in Yemen, where Houthis continue to hold UN personnel, civil society workers, and staff of diplomatic missions in arbitrary detention and continue their attacks on international shipping.
“These repeated attacks, including the recent strikes on tankers have significantly increased the risk of an environmental disaster,” he said, “Such attacks on civilian shipping are wholly unacceptable and must cease immediately.
Moreover, Grundberg stressed that the Yemenis continue to yearn and work for peace after more than nine years of conflict.
And yet, he said, “they see their space for meaningful engagement and peacebuilding under attack, with arbitrary detentions, death threats, and intimidation, especially in Houthi-controlled areas.”
The envoy called on the militia group to immediately and unconditionally release all those arbitrarily detained, including 17 UN personnel—four of whom are women and one of whom is from his own team—and to end their campaign of detentions.
Grundberg revealed that he has engaged in constructive discussions with Yemeni and international stakeholders during visits to New York, to Tehran and to Moscow where he underscored that a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Yemen is not only the most viable way forward but more importantly, it is definitely achievable.
Also, he stressed that the Yemeni people require sustained and unified international support, and “we must collectively keep the focus on making peace a reality.”
“We have the elements and the tools to prepare the ground,” he remarked, referring to the commitments made by the parties towards the establishment of a roadmap, including a nationwide ceasefire, addressing humanitarian and economic needs and preparing for an inclusive political process.
Despite the escalation, the envoy said these commitments “remain essential building blocks for peace in Yemen and the reference points for our discussions with Yemeni political party representatives and components, as well as civil society organizations, with the meaningful participation of women and youth.”
On the military front, the envoy spoke of relative calm on the frontlines, “despite occasional flare-ups that remind us of the fragility of the situation.”
He added that communication channels with senior military leadership through the Military Coordination Committee remain active, reinforcing the message that the groundwork laid now will be critical to ensuring the stability of a future ceasefire and other security arrangements.
On the economic level, Grundberg said: “We have identified options at the technical level and are working to convince the parties that collaboration on economic issues is the only way to achieve economic viability and stability.”
Also at the Security Council briefing, Joyce Msuya, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator expressed her “extreme” concern about the reported referral to “criminal prosecution” by the Houthi authorities of a significant number of arbitrarily detained colleagues, including three UN personnel – two from UNESCO and one from the UN Human Rights Office – who were detained in 2021 and 2023.
“The potential laying of charges against our colleagues is unacceptable,” she said.
The detentions are reflective of a growing, unacceptable pattern of attacks against humanitarians across the region, Msuya noted.
“Humanitarian relief personnel must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law,” she urged.
