DUBAI: The US has accused Yemen’s Houthis of triggering the latest escalation in violence in the country, as renewed fighting threatened to unravel years of relative calm and draw it deeper into the wider regional conflict.
The US Embassy in Yemen said on Wednesday that the Iran-backed group had brought “nothing but suffering” and accused it of turning Yemen into a base for Iran to “undermine Arab unity and security.”
“The terrorist Houthis and their Iranian backers miscalculated by underestimating the resolve of the Republic of Yemen’s legitimate government, the Yemeni Armed Forces, and the Yemeni people to end Houthi aggression and brutality,” it said on X.
It cited an Aug. 7 statement by the UN Security Council, which condemned Houthi missile attacks against Saudi Arabia and commercial vessels and warned that the group’s actions threatened regional security, navigational rights and efforts to secure peace in Yemen.
The statement came a day after a major Houthi attack on southern Saudi Arabia wounded 73 people, including women and children, and struck energy facilities in Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran.
Fires broke out at several sites and operations at some facilities were temporarily halted, according to Saudi authorities, who described the attacks as a “dangerous escalation” and vowed to take measures to deter further strikes.
