UN Security Council slams ‘escalatory’ Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia

The UN Security Council issues a joint statement condemning the “escalatory” attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabia, including “reckless strikes” on Riyadh’s airport.

The Saudi capital’s international airport has been targeted by strikes 20 times since the beginning of the month, with an attack last weekend killing 13 people and wounding more than 300.

In a joint statement shared by the Security Council’s president, Greece’s Evangelos Sekeris, the 15-member UN body “condemned in the strongest terms continued and escalatory Houthi attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” as well as “continued Houthi attacks and threats against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb [Strait].”

The statement also “affirmed the inherent right of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to self-defense in accordance with international law.”

Yemen’s civil war — in which Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition supporting the government since 2015 — reignited in September after the collapse of a years-long truce.