Yemeni government vows firm response to Houthi escalation on Red Sea coast

The Yemeni government has said that the escalation by the Iran-backed Houthi militia is no longer an internal Yemeni affair or a crisis that can be contained within the country’s borders, but has become an increasing threat to regional security, freedom of navigation, energy supplies, and one of the world’s most vital trade arteries.

In an official statement, the government stressed that it is handling the latest developments on the western coast and in the Bab Al-Mandab Strait with full responsibility and determination, confident in its ability to manage the consequences, regain the initiative, and turn these events into an opportunity to strengthen national unity, reorganize resources, and focus efforts on the shared goal of restoring state institutions and ending the Houthi threat.

The statement, delivered by Yemen’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdullah Al-Saadi, during an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Yemen, said: “We assure our regional and international partners that, regardless of the seriousness of these developments, they will not alter the course or objectives of the battle, nor will they impose a new reality by force of arms. Rather, they will only strengthen the resolve of the government and national forces to protect Yemen’s sovereignty and the security of its waterways.”

The statement added: “The militia previously believed that seizing the capital and state institutions by force was a permanent reality, but Yemenis reclaimed Aden, other cities, and more than 70 percent of the country’s territory. Today, this extremist terrorist group will once again fail to turn any battlefield gains into a lasting reality.”

Ambassador Al-Saadi affirmed that the Yemeni Armed Forces are reorganizing, regaining the initiative, and working to prevent the militia from turning its presence on the coast into a permanent platform for threatening Bab Al-Mandab and international navigation. He noted the military’s commitment to protecting civilians and adhering to rules of engagement and international humanitarian law—not out of weakness or hesitation, but as the difference between a state that protects its citizens and a militia that uses them as human shields and exploits their areas for its destructive agenda.

Al-Saadi reiterated that the Republic of Yemen will continue to exercise its sovereign right and constitutional duty to liberate all its territory, protect its territorial waters and sea lanes, and prevent their use to threaten Yemenis, their neighbors, or international peace and security.

He noted that while Bab Al-Mandab is Yemeni land and water, the interests it protects extend to countries around the globe. Every ship passing through the strait, every energy shipment, and every supply chain that relies on it makes its security part of the economic security of nations thousands of kilometers from Yemen. He stressed that Yemenis, in defending their coasts and waters and Bab Al-Mandab today, are not only fulfilling a national duty but are also the first line of defense for an international passage vital to global interests.

Al-Saadi said: “This is a truth that should not be lost on this council: Yemen is not asking the world to defend it; Yemen is already defending a global interest.”

He added: “A few days ago, on September 10, the Republic of Yemen stood before this council and presented a clear picture of the military escalation by the Houthi terrorist militia. We warned of the dangers of treating each Houthi attack as a temporary threat and then returning to a policy of containment and waiting for the next attack. We specifically warned against attempts by the Houthis to impose military facts by force on Yemen’s western coast and Bab Al-Mandab. We said that, in defending their land, waters, and sea lanes, Yemenis are defending a shared international interest. Today, we are no longer warning of the danger; we are witnessing it unfold before our eyes.”

Ambassador Al-Saadi emphasized that the issue is no longer about who controls a few kilometers of coastline, but whether the international community will allow one of the world’s most important trade and energy gateways to become a bargaining chip in the hands of a cross-border terrorist group.

He pointed out that the ongoing Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting cities, civilian infrastructure, and energy sources, are not separate from the escalation in Yemen and Bab Al-Mandab. Rather, they are part of a single threat structure that uses Yemeni territory, missiles, drones, and sea lanes to serve a regional agenda that goes beyond Yemen’s interests and those of its people.

Al-Saadi concluded: “We see the targeting of energy facilities and supply routes as an attempt to increase the pressure on the Iranian regime and shift part of the burden onto the region and the global economy, turning energy and maritime routes into tools of leverage, extending the equation of threat and blackmail seen in the Strait of Hormuz.”