The Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen's internationally recognised government has vowed to respond "with unprecedented determination and force" to any attempt to target Saudi Arabia or violate Yemen's sovereignty, following threats from Yemen's Houthi group.
Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki said in a statement on Saturday that Houthi threats against the kingdom were "merely an attempt to divert attention away from their grave violations against the brotherly people of Yemen."
He accused the group of trying "to export the economic disasters and Yemeni suffering they have caused," while also deflecting attention from the rejection they face from Yemeni tribal and social groups onto neighbouring countries.
Al-Malki said Saudi Arabia, the coalition and international partners had worked to ease Yemeni suffering caused by the Houthi takeover and to resolve the crisis through a roadmap accepted by Yemen's government but rejected by the Houthis, who, he said, instead attacked shipping lanes and international trade in the southern Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait.
"The Coalition will respond with unprecedented determination and force to any and all attempts to target the Kingdom, its citizens and residents and national assets, or any attempt to violate the sovereignty of the brotherly Republic of Yemen in a manner that conforms with the Customary International Humanitarian Law," he said.
A ‘flagrant violation’
The coalition's statement came after Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree threatened a "comprehensive" response targeting Saudi airports and vital interests, claiming Houthi forces had used air defence missiles to force Saudi warplanes to abandon an attempt to block an Iranian civilian flight from landing at Sanaa International Airport on Friday.
Saree said the aircraft was carrying more than 200 stranded, injured and sick passengers.
It marked the first publicly confirmed Iranian flight to Sanaa airport in roughly a decade, according to Yemeni media, though Iran had not officially confirmed the flight as of Saturday.
Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council held an emergency meeting on Friday, calling the flight a "flagrant violation" of Yemen's sovereignty and a "blatant defiance" of international law and UN Security Council resolutions, and urged the UN to move "from condemnation to deterrent action" against Iran.
