The Iran-aligned Houthi movement that controls northern Yemen accused Saudi Arabia on Monday of launching airstrikes against the international airport in Sanaa, and vowed to retaliate.
Smoke rises after reports of an airstrike hitting near the Sanaa International Airport, as seen from Sanaa, Yemen, July 13, 2026. Reuters/Khaled Abdullah
The Iran-aligned Houthi movement that controls northern Yemen accused Saudi Arabia on Monday of launching airstrikes against the international airport in Sanaa, and vowed to retaliate.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree called the attacks "blatant aggression" and said they had ended a period of de-escalation in the long-running conflict. He said Saudi Arabia would bear the consequences and that the attack would not go unanswered.
The Saudi government's communication office did not immediately respond to the accusations.
Earlier on Monday, the defence ministry of Yemen's internationally recognised government said its armed forces had targeted the runway at Sanaa International Airport to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. A spokesman for Yemen's armed forces said the aircraft landed safely at Hodeidah airport, a Houthi-controlled facility.
The government, which operates from the southern port of Aden, has the backing of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
Yemen has faced civil war and proxy warfare from outside powers for more than a decade, since the Houthis seized the capital and forced the internationally recognised government to relocate to the south.
After years of fighting between a Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis that triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, a 2022 truce has largely held, despite regional escalation tied to the Israel-Gaza war that saw the Houthis fire on Red Sea shipping, as well as the Iran conflict.
Yemen's more than decade-long civil war flared up last year after a United Arab Emirates-backed separatist movement swept through territory in the south, splintering the Saudi-led coalition that was created to fight the Houthi group.
Moammar bin Mutahar Al-Eryan, the information minister in the internationally recognised government, said the Houthis were detaining an aircraft belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross at Sanaa airport and holding its pilot and co-pilot.
Earlier on Monday, the government's defence minister had said it had exhausted diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran and the Houthis to stop what he described as Iranian aircraft violating Yemeni airspace. He said government forces would respond to any hostile aircraft violating Yemen's airspace "by all available means", and held Iran responsible.
By Mohammed Ghobari and Eman Abouhassira
A proposed deal between Iran and Oman would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source and two regional officials told Reuters on Wednesday, in one of the biggest concessions yet to Iran.
The U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday it had removed counter-terrorism sanctions from Iraq's Fly Baghdad Airlines and two aircraft that were imposed in 2024 over links to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, citing changes in the airline's behavior.
Qatar said mediators were making progress in efforts to end the U.S.-Iran war on Tuesday, driving oil prices lower, although Tehran has denied President Donald Trump's assertion that talks are already under way.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.