{"id":1705,"date":"2026-07-14T17:40:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T17:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1705"},"modified":"2026-07-14T17:40:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T17:40:36","slug":"yemen-at-risk-of-getting-dragged-back-into-war-as-saudis-and-houthis-exchange-airstrikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1705","title":{"rendered":"Yemen at risk of getting dragged back into war as Saudis and Houthis exchange airstrikes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CAIRO (AP) \u2014 A truce that ended nearly a decade of war in Yemen has mostly held since 2022. It is being severely tested<\/span> four years later, as tensions tied to the war in Iran<\/span> risk spilling over.<\/p>\n

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The civil war in Yemen that began in 2014 eventually pitted Iran-backed Houthi rebels against a Saudi-led coalition supporting the country\u2019s government. While the Iran war that began on Feb. 28 reignited all sorts of regional rivalries<\/span>, the peace between the Houthis and Saudis had mostly prevailed — until Monday.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when Houthis said they launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia\u2019s<\/span> Abha International Airport in response to airstrikes they blamed on Saudi Arabia that struck Sanaa International Airport earlier in the day. No casualties were reported, but it was the most significant confrontation between these enemies in years, raising fears that they could be moving closer to another war.<\/p>\n

Yemen, one of the world\u2019s poorest countries, is still recovering from the civil war that plunged parts of the nation into famine<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a closer look at the renewed tensions:<\/p>\n

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A flight from Iran triggered the fighting<\/h2>\n

Yemen\u2019s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile.<\/p>\n

A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year to try to restore the government to power. The country is now divided between the Houthi-controlled north and a southern region mostly ruled by the internationally recognized government.<\/p>\n

Tensions began to flare earlier this month when the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of trying to prevent an Iranian plane from carrying a Houthi delegation to Tehran for Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei<\/span>.<\/p>\n

When the plane returned to Yemen on Monday, the Houthis say Saudi Arabia attacked the Sanaa airport to prevent it from landing. The plane was diverted and landed safely at another airport.<\/p>\n

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Saudi Arabian officials did not respond to a request for comment about the airstrikes in Yemen. <\/p>\n

Rashad al-Alimi, who leads Yemen\u2019s internationally recognized government, said it had rejected a request from Iran to return the Houthi delegation. He accused the rebel group of receiving the Iranian flight \u201coutside the legal and sovereign frameworks governing civil aviation.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the Houthis are prepared to confront any violation of Yemeni airspace; he said on Telegram that the group downed a Saudi reconnaissance aircraft at dawn in Al Bayda province in central Yemen.<\/p>\n

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There are deeper issues at play<\/h2>\n

Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group, said Monday\u2019s exchange of fire was about more than a single Iranian flight.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia and Yemen\u2019s internationally recognized government viewed this attempt by the Houthis to weaken their influence.<\/p>\n

The Saudi-led coalition imposed an air and sea blockade on Yemen in 2015 to put pressure on the Houthis. By allowing a direct international flight to land without the approval of the Saudi-led coalition, the Houthis were seeking to establish a new reality in which they could independently make decisions over Yemen\u2019s airspace and end what they view as a blockade of the international airport.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Houthis were testing a new red line. If they succeeded, they could become more emboldened, raise their demands, and seek to cross additional red lines,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Farea al-Muslimi, a research fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London, said Saudi Arabia has so far shown restraint in the broader U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. But it is far less likely to stay on the sidelines when it perceives its influence in Yemen, which borders Saudi Arabia to the south, to be under threat.<\/p>\n

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