{"id":2764,"date":"2026-10-15T22:03:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T17:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2764"},"modified":"2026-10-15T22:03:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T17:03:52","slug":"saudi-arabia-accuses-iran-of-encouraging-houthis-in-latest-escalation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2764","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of encouraging Houthis in latest escalation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Saudi Arabia on Thursday accused Iran of encouraging Yemen\u2019s Houthis in the dramatic escalation of their fight with the kingdom, adding that the Islamic Republic continued to arm and train the group.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a virtual briefing with reporters including AFP<\/em> journalists, Saudi Arabia\u2019s deputy minister for public diplomacy at the foreign ministry said Riyadh was still in touch with Iran, but that Tehran did not appear ready to make concessions.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia, the world\u2019s top crude oil exporter, has come under sustained attack by the Houthis in recent days, shifting the focus of the Middle East war that erupted with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.<\/p>\n

It has launched retaliatory strikes on Houthi strongholds in Yemen \u2014 one of the world\u2019s poorest countries \u2014 but the Iran-backed militants remain undeterred.<\/p>\n

\u201cIran continues to arm, train and support the Houthi militia in violation of UN security council resolutions,\u201d said Dr Rayed Krimly, the deputy minister.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think that the escalation by the Houthis at this latest stage of the conflict is encouraged by Iran,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The official said the kingdom continued \u201cto have direct communications with Iran\u201d, but added: \u201cOverall, it doesn\u2019t seem yet that the Iranians are able to provide the necessary concessions for a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2023, regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia reached a deal mediated by China to thaw a longstanding freeze in ties, but the latest violence might threaten to upend the entente.<\/p>\n

The Saudi official went on to accuse the Houthis of refusing to meet in Oman in recent weeks as fighting ramped up between the two sides.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the beginning of this escalation, we asked them to meet in Muscat, Oman, and they refused,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the last communication which happened a few weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>Airport strikes<\/h3>\n

On Saturday, a strike hit Riyadh\u2019s international airport, killing 13 people and wounding around 300 others, in the deadliest attack on Saudi Arabia in a decade.<\/p>\n

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis on Thursday said the group had attacked Riyadh\u2019s airport 20 times in October.<\/p>\n

During a presentation in Riyadh covering the strikes, coalition spokesman Turki Al-Malki said \u201cthe Houthis must immediately cease all terrorist operations targeting civilians and civilian facilities, including airports, ports, oil facilities, and infrastructure\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe terrorist Houthi militias have worked to obtain advanced technologies with the help of regional actors,\u201d he said, adding that the group now had \u201cballistic missiles, attack and suicide drones, and fast explosive-laden boats\u201d.<\/p>\n

Yemen\u2019s civil war reignited in July after a years-long UN-brokered truce collapsed, months into a wider Middle East war that has rocked the region and roiled energy supplies and markets.<\/p>\n

The situation took a sharp turn for the worse in September, when the Houthis launched a lightning offensive that saw them capture swathes of new territory in Yemen, including along the Red Sea coast where a waterway crucial to global energy flows is located.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the Houthis fired missiles at the presidential palace in Aden, which also serves as the headquarters of the internationally recognised government, security sources told AFP,<\/em> while a journalist saw smoke rising from the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cHouthi missiles targeted the Al-Maashiq presidential palace in Aden,\u201d the government\u2019s interim capital, three local police sources said on condition of anonymity, after residents of the southern city reported hearing explosions.<\/p>\n

Since their offensive began, the Houthis have also repeatedly targeted Saudi Arabia, which backs the internationally recognised government whose forces they are battling on the ground.<\/p>\n

The attacks on Saudi Arabia have tested the country\u2019s infrastructure and resilience, the energy minister acknowledged earlier this week.<\/p>\n

Riyadh usually hosts a packed calendar of events this time of year, including its flagship investment conference drawing foreign leaders and business titans.<\/p>\n

In Yemen, the conflict has caused what the United Nations calls one of the world\u2019s worst humanitarian crises, leaving most of the nation\u2019s population dependent on aid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saudi Arabia on Thursday accused Iran of encouraging Yemen\u2019s Houthis in the dramatic escalation of their fight with the kingdom, adding that the Islamic Republic continued to arm and train the group. In a virtual briefing with reporters including AFP journalists, Saudi Arabia\u2019s deputy minister for public diplomacy at the foreign ministry said Riyadh was still in touch with Iran, but that Tehran did not appear ready to make concessions. Saudi Arabia, the world\u2019s top crude oil exporter, has come under sustained attack by the Houthis in recent days, shifting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2764\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}