Yemen's Houthis Fire Missiles at Saudi Arabia After Strike on Sanaa Airport Breaks Four-Year Truce

Yemen's Houthi movement launched missiles at Saudi Arabia following air strikes on Sanaa airport in what officials describe as the most significant escalation in their largely dormant conflict since an informal truce took effect four years ago. The Iranian-backed group fired missiles in response to damage inflicted on the Houthi-controlled airport, while the Saudi-led coalition reported its air defences intercepted the projectiles with no casualties.

The confrontation erupted when Yemen's internationally recognised government, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, targeted Sanaa airport's runway. Officials stated the action aimed to prevent an Iranian aircraft carrying a Houthi delegation from landing at the facility. The delegation had been returning from the funeral of Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei. According to Yemen's defence ministry, Houthi militias had blocked a national aircraft from landing while insisting on allowing the Iranian plane to enter Yemeni airspace.

The Iranian plane diverted and landed instead at Hudaydah, located approximately 150 kilometres southwest of Sanaa in Red Sea territory controlled by the Houthis. Yemen's government officials framed Iranian flights to Yemen as violations of national sovereignty, characterising the aircraft as carriers of military equipment and expertise destined for the Houthi movement. Abdullah al-Alimi, vice-president of Yemen's Saudi-backed government, described the Houthis as having transformed from a domestic threat into a regional and international security concern affecting global commerce.

The escalation marks a dramatic shift in a conflict that has ravaged Yemen since the Houthis seized control of Sanaa in 2015. The subsequent Saudi-led military intervention triggered a civil war that has reportedly claimed more than 150,000 lives and displaced millions, creating what international organisations describe as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Over 22 million Yemeni civilians require humanitarian assistance according to United Nations assessments.

The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree characterised the missile response as a legitimate act of self-defence and protection of national sovereignty under both Islamic and international law. An emergency session of the United Nations Security Council convened to address calls for de-escalation from both parties.