Yemen / Anadolu

On Monday evening, Khaled Khiari, UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, called on all parties in Yemen to "reduce tensions and address differences through dialogue," warning of the risks of renewed military escalation on chances for peace in the country.

This came during a briefing he delivered before an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss developments in Yemen, according to the UN website.

This comes shortly after Yemen's Houthi group, in a video statement by its military spokesman Yahya Saree, claimed targeting Abha International Airport in southern Saudi Arabia with a number of ballistic missiles and drones, saying the attack came "in response to targeting Sanaa International Airport."

Before the UN Security Council, Khiari pointed to developments in Yemen in recent days, including reports that an Iranian plane flew from Tehran to Sanaa International Airport on July 3 of this month before returning to Iran, as well as "other worrying developments" in the field situation.

He added that reports also spoke of another Iranian plane landing at Hodeidah Airport in western Yemen on Monday, carrying a Houthi delegation returning from Tehran, following airstrikes on Sanaa International Airport that the Houthis attributed to Saudi Arabia.

The UN official stressed that "unilateral actions will not bring Yemen closer to peace, but risk deepening divisions, accelerating fragmentation, and increasing the risk of renewed escalation and military confrontation."

He urged all parties to "reduce tensions, address their differences through dialogue, constructively cooperate with the efforts of the UN Special Envoy (Hans Grundberg), and choose dialogue over violence," calling for "refraining from any steps that could undermine chances for peace."

Khiari said that "Yemen and the broader region cannot afford another round of escalation."

He called for "constructively engaging in negotiations under UN auspices to ensure de-escalation and enhance safe and sustainable civilian air access."

Earlier on Monday, spokesman for the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen, Turki Al-Maliki, 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 is the first announced Iranian flight to arrive at Sanaa Airport in about 10 years, according to Yemeni media.

Yemeni authorities previously condemned what they said was Iran sending a "Mahan" plane to Sanaa on July 3, 2026, to "transport a Houthi delegation from Sanaa to Tehran."

Despite intermittent clashes, Yemen has witnessed a truce since April 2022 in a war that began more than 11 years ago between forces of the legitimate government and elements of the Houthi group, which has controlled provinces and cities, including Sanaa in the north of the country, since September 21, 2014.