Yemen/Anadolu

The Yemeni government said that 313 ships entered ports under the control of the Houthi group since the beginning of 2026, considering that this exposes the falsity of the claims that the group continues to promote about what it calls the 'siege'.

This came in a statement by Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani, published by the official Yemeni news agency Saba on Wednesday.

Al-Eryani said that 'the official data on the movement of maritime permits to ports under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist militia during the year 2026 reveals the falsity of the claims that the militia continues to promote about what it calls the siege.'

He explained that 'the ports under the control of the militia were granted 313 permits for commercial ships this year, including 45 permits for oil product ships, 157 permits for food and various goods ships, 104 permits for building materials ships, in addition to 7 permits for other ships.'

Al-Eryani considered that this confirms the continued flow of goods and basic materials to those ports normally, and categorically refutes the 'siege allegations' that the militia has been exploiting to achieve political and media gains.

He pointed out that 'the Houthi militia’s continued marketing of the siege lie is not aimed at serving citizens or alleviating their suffering, but rather comes as part of an attempt to justify its military escalation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab, and to legitimize its attacks on commercial ships and threat to international navigation freedom, in implementation of direct dictates from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.'

Yemen has been witnessing a fragile truce since April 2022 in a war that began more than 11 years ago between government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi group that has controlled Sanaa and other provinces since September 2014.

On July 13, the Yemeni Ministry of Defense announced that its forces targeted Sanaa airport's runway to prevent an Iranian plane from landing, while the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out the attack and considered it the end of the de-escalation phase.

In recent days, clashes have renewed between government forces and the Houthis in provinces including Al-Jawf, Al-Dhale, and Taiz, amid mutual threats between the two sides.