Saudi Arabia accused Iran of arming Yemen’s Houthis as fighting and attacks on Riyadh raised the human toll and renewed concerns about trade through the Red Sea.
Saudi Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Rayed Krimly said Oct. 15 that Iran was arming, training and encouraging the group. Saudi coalition spokesman Major General Turki Al-Malki separately said the Houthis had obtained advanced technology with help from unnamed regional actors. Al-Malki did not identify Iran.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei rejected the Saudi accusation Oct. 16, saying Yemeni forces made their own operational decisions.
Reuters reported Sept. 10, citing Yemeni government, Iranian and regional sources, that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had guided a Houthi advance along Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Two Iranian sources told Reuters that Tehran had promised further funding, weapons and senior officers to support attacks on Saudi Arabia. The claims of IRGC direction and promised support remain unverified.
The allegations come amid renewed fighting in Yemen. The Oct. 19 Shabwa training-site strike killed at least 53 people and wounded 200 recruits, according to Yemeni provincial and military authorities. The Houthis acknowledged targeting the government camp.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said attacks on Oct. 8 struck King Khalid International Airport facilities and a Saudia aircraft, killing three Saudi citizens. The authority reported 12 deaths and 309 injuries after a separate Oct. 10 attack. India’s Embassy in Riyadh later said an injured Indian citizen had died, bringing the reported death toll from that attack to 13.
The Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014. Saudi Arabia entered the war in 2015 to support Yemen’s internationally recognized government. A United Nations-mediated truce began in April 2022 and formally expired that October.
G7 foreign ministers have warned that threats to shipping through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait could disrupt supplies of energy, fertilizer and food.
