The Houthis announced on Monday a maritime ban on Saudi Arabia, days after renewed clashes in Yemen between the Iranian-backed rebels and the government supported by a Riyadh-led coalition, for the first time in years.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a video statement: “The Yemeni armed forces announce a ban on maritime navigation for the criminal Saudi enemy, in accordance with the equation of siege for siege, and it will come into effect from the moment this statement is announced.”
He spoke of what he called “the right of our great people to confront the siege with a siege, and the comprehensive escalation with a comprehensive escalation, and to establish this equation.”
He added that the group's forces "affirm their complete readiness for all options."
He stressed that any comprehensive Saudi escalation “will be met with a comprehensive and harsh escalation.”
He called for “continuing the general mobilization and general call to arms, being fully prepared for all scenarios and developments, and supporting the fronts with fighters.”
On July 13, the Yemeni Ministry of Defense announced that its forces targeted the runway of Sana'a International Airport to prevent an Iranian plane from landing, while the Houthi group accused Saudi Arabia of launching the attack, and considered it to mean the end of de-escalation.
In recent days, clashes have renewed between government forces and the Houthis in several governorates, including Al-Jawf, Al-Dhale’ and Taiz, amid mutual threats between the two sides, in a country facing one of the worst humanitarian and economic crises in the world.
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