Saudi Arabia has led a coalition backing the internationally recognized government since 2015.
THIS handout image release by the Iran-backed Houthi forces purportedly show a ballistic missile strike on trucks carrying military equipment from Saudi Arabia to the Al-Wadiah military camp in Yemen’s Hadhramaut province.
Photograph courtesy of HANDOUT/ANSARULLAH MEDIA CENTRE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Riyadh (AFP) — G7 nations called on Yemen’s Houthis Tuesday to halt strikes on Saudi Arabia, offering a show of solidarity with Riyadh as the Tehran-backed fighters have added a new threat to the Middle East war.
The Houthi movement staged a lightning offensive in recent weeks to take over Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast, including Mokha, threatening global trade and pushing up energy prices up.
Gains made by Yemen’s Houthis have cemented Iran and its allies hold over two key waterways, including the Strait of Hormuz, that the wider Gulf and top crude exporter Saudi Arabia rely on to ship out its oil.
G7 leaders representing Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States said in a statement “we call on the Houthis to immediately cease all military actions.”
“All threats and attacks against civilian shipping, and to return to the political process in good faith,” it added.
They also called on Iran “to end its arming of and support for the Houthis,” alleging Tehran is in violation of past UN Security Council resolutions.
The war in impoverished Yemen, which began in 2014 with the Houthi capture of the capital Sanaa, had been largely frozen since 2022 but resumed in July.
Saudi Arabia has led a coalition backing the internationally recognized government since 2015. Its intervention escalated the war, which has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Saudi strikes on Yemen’s strategic Red Sea port Mokha killed at least six people and wounded eight others, the Houthi-affiliated news agency Saba reported Tuesday.
The strikes come off the back of a Houthi attack on Riyadh on Saturday which marked the first to target the Saudi capital in years and a major escalation by the pro-Iranian fighters.
Britain agreed to give military support to Saudi Arabia, media reports said Monday, adding that the UK would provide “defensive” air-to-air refueling for Saudi jets.
France also pledged their support saying it is ready to work on “securing” Saudi energy infrastructure targeted by Iran-backed Houthis, adopting a “strictly defensive approach”, a diplomatic source told Agence France-Presse Monday.
“This in no way involves taking part in the conflict with the Houthis,” the source added.
The Houthis have carried out attacks against facilities belonging to the Saudi oil giant Aramco in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu. The East-West Pipeline — a crucial crude oil export route — has also been shut down following drone attacks launched from Iraq, according to Riyadh.
