Yemen's Houthis threaten to attack Saudi Arabia

DPAThu, July 16, 2026 at 6:34 PM UTC2 min readAdd Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.Key takeawaysPowered by Yahoo Scout. Yahoo is using AI to generate key points from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.

• Houthi leader Abdel Malik al-Houthi has threatened Saudi Arabia with attacks on oil facilities and airports, stating that all critical infrastructure in the country are targets for missiles and drones.
• The conflict between the Houthis in Yemen and the internationally recognized government backed by Saudi Arabia has escalated, raising concerns of reigniting the war that has been ongoing since 2014.
• Despite damage to their arsenal from airstrikes, the Houthis can still receive weapons supplies through smuggling routes, with only five percent of components in a large seizure last year originating from Iran.

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In Yemen, Houthi leader Abdel Malik al-Houthi has threatened neighbouring Saudi Arabia with attacks on oil facilities, airports, and other sensitive targets.

All Saudi Arabian oil facilities and critical infrastructure in the country are "targets for our missiles and drones," al-Houthi said in a televised address. The appropriate response to the latest attack on Sanaa airport in Yemen, which is controlled by the Houthis, is an attack on Riyadh airport.

On Monday, one of the most serious confrontations in years erupted between the Houthis and the internationally recognized government in Yemen, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.

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The attacks on Sanaa airport in northern Yemen and on targets in Saudi Arabia have raised renewed concerns that the war in Yemen, which has been ongoing since 2014, could reignite. An informal ceasefire has been in place between the two sides since 2022.

'Ceasefire Hanging by a Thread'

"The ceasefire is hanging by a thread," Nadwa al-Dawsari of the US think tank Middle East Institute told the newspaper "The National." "It was never truly sustainable because the parties fundamentally disagreed on its nature."

The Houthi militia in Yemen, along with Hezbollah in Lebanon, is Iran's most important non-state ally. During the Iran-Iraq War, it pledged "full and unwavering solidarity" with Tehran.

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The Houthis initially possessed only outdated weapons systems from the former Soviet Union, but have steadily expanded their arsenal. Today, it includes a wide range of missiles, cruise missiles, drones, and drone boats. With these weapons, they can directly threaten ships, critical infrastructure, and residential areas in the region.

Houthis can continue to receive weapons suppliesAlthough the Houthis' arsenal has been severely damaged by repeated airstrikes from the US and Israel, they can continue to receive supplies for their weapons systems via smuggling routes, for example around the Horn of Africa - from Iran as well as from other countries. According to the British organization Conflict Armament Research (CAR), in a large seizure of weapons and weapons technology last year, only five percent of the components originated from Iran; the rest came from at least 16 other countries.

From Yemen, the Houthis control the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which lies on the shipping route between Europe and Asia and, along with the Strait of Hormuz, is one of the world's most important sea lanes. The Houthis have threatened new attacks on the strait after already severely disrupting global trade with hundreds of attacks on shipping since 2023.