Yemeni President calls for international coalition against Houthis in UN speech

Yemeni President Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi used his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday to sharply condemn the Houthi movement and urge the formation of an international coalition to help restore peace and state authority in Yemen.

Representing the UN-recognised government, which has been locked in conflict with Houthi rebels since 2014, Al-Alimi described the group as “the most violent and arrogant of terrorist organizations” and accused them of destabilising Yemen and the wider region.

“We are here today not simply to speak of the epic confrontation of the Yemeni people against the violent and the most violent and arrogant of terrorist organizations,” Al-Alimi told world leaders, referring to the Houthis.

He stressed that the crisis in Yemen was no longer a purely domestic matter but a test of the international community’s resolve. “Yemen today is not simply a domestic crisis. Rather, it is a test of the credibility of the international organisation,” he said.

Al-Alimi called on the General Assembly “to prove to its members that international law is not simply a myth,” saying that both Yemen’s conflict and the ongoing war in Gaza represent “a moral testing ground” for the global order. “The Palestinian cause lies in the heart of this issue as a wound that continues to bleed and the central cause of the Arab people,” he added.

Al-Alimi warned that Yemenis “are living one of the greatest humanitarian crises” and face “security threats that transcend our borders and spread to the region and the entire world.” He accused the Houthis of receiving Iranian support, including “internationally banned weapons.”

Calling for stronger global action, Al-Alimi said it was now “necessary to move collectively and firmly to impose peace.” He urged the creation of “an effective international coalition to restore security and stability, and a coalition that would rebuild the institutions of the state and liberate the country from the clutches of the militias and all forms of terrorist groups.”

The conflict in Yemen, now entering its second decade, has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, leaving millions displaced and in need of aid. Despite multiple attempts at peace talks, fighting continues between the internationally recognised government and the Houthi movement, which controls much of the country’s north, including the capital, Sanaa.