Yemen's Houthis threaten Saudi after alleged airspace intrusion: spokesman
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Yemen's Houthis threatened on Friday Saudi airports and vital assets should Riyadh violate its airspace or attempt to attack it, as the group accused the kingdom of trying to stop an Iranian plane from landing.
The threats followed a time of relative calm between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed group, which did not target Gulf states during the Middle East war that saw Iran pummel its oil-rich neighbours.
"We warn the criminal Saudi enemy against repeating any attempt to violate our airspace or any aggression targeting our country," military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a video statement.
"Such actions will be met with a comprehensive response targeting its airports and vital interests on land and sea."
Saree said the group had thwarted an attempt by Saudi warplanes to infiltrate their airspace at 5:20 AM (02:20 GMT) in a bid "to prevent an Iranian civilian aircraft carrying more than 200 stranded, wounded and sick citizens from landing at Sanaa International Airport".
Houthi media earlier reported that the aircraft had headed back to Tehran carrying the Houthi delegation meant to attend the funeral of Iran's former supreme leader, killed in US-‘Israeli’ strikes that triggered the Middle East war.
The group said its fighters were ready for "any options" and that "their fingers are on the trigger to implement directives aimed at breaking the Saudi-American siege", without providing further details.
The renewed threats came months after the Saudi-backed government and the Houthis had agreed to their largest prisoner exchange, confirmed in May, which includes seven Saudi nationals.
The Houthis have been at war with the government since 2015 in a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and triggered a major humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
The Houthis control Yemen's capital Sanaa and much of the north, including most population centres, while the internationally-recognised government holds much of the south.
The fighting between the two sides has largely been frozen since a UN-negotiated truce in 2022.
