ANKARA / Anatolia

Turkey's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday strongly condemned a missile attack carried out by the Iran-backed Houthi group in Yemen, targeting the southern region of Saudi Arabia.

In a statement, the ministry said: "We condemn in the strongest terms the missile attack launched by the Houthis on the southern region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

It added: "We once again affirm our full solidarity with Saudi Arabia in the face of this attack, which violates its sovereignty and territorial integrity and poses a serious threat to the security and stability of the region."

The ministry also reiterated its call to avoid any steps that could lead to further escalation in the region.

On Monday, Col. Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition supporting legitimacy in Yemen, announced that "air defenses dealt with a threat from ballistic missiles launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards the southern region," without providing further details.

This came hours after the Yemeni Defense Ministry announced the targeting of the runway at Sanaa International Airport to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. The Houthi group considered this development to mean "the end of de-escalation" in place in the country for years, vowing that the targeting "will not pass without a response and punishment."

In this context, Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council President Rashad al-Alimi, in a statement published by the Yemeni news agency SABA, affirmed that his country "will not allow the violation of its airspace or the imposition of a fait accompli at Sanaa airport or any other airport," announcing his directives not to expand the confrontation to avoid dragging Yemen into a regional conflict.

This is the first announced Iranian flight to arrive at Sanaa airport in about 10 years, according to Yemeni media.

The Yemeni authorities had previously condemned, on July 3, 2026, Iran's sending of a plane belonging to Mahan Air to Sanaa, saying the aim was to transport a Houthi delegation from Sanaa to Tehran.

Despite intermittent confrontations, Yemen has experienced a state of calm since April 2022 in a war that began over 11 years ago between the legitimate government forces and the Houthi group, which has controlled provinces and cities, including the capital Sanaa, since September 21, 2014.