A four year old truce that halted years of fighting between Yemen’s Houthis and Saudi Arabia is teetering after the Houthis blamed the Saudis for attacks on the Sana’a airport runway as an Iranian airliner carrying a delegation that had participated in funeral ceremonies in Iran was preparing to land there. The Iranian plane diverted to Hodeida, some 90 miles away, and landed safely. The Houthis retaliated by firing missiles and drones at the airport in Abha, more than 200 miles to the north.
Later, the internationally recognized government of Yemen claimed responsibility for the strike on the Sana’a airport. Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, said he had directed “that the scope of the confrontation not be expanded in order to prevent Iran from dragging Yemen into wars that serve its interests,” reported Middle East Eye. “In the future, we will not allow any aircraft to violate Yemeni airspace, whether it be Sanaa airport or any other airport,” he added.
MEE added that the Saudis had not confirmed they were behind the attack, though the Aden government, many of whose members reside in Saui Arabia, depends heavily on Saudi military support.