Senior Houthi threatens 'siege' on Saudi Arabia after Sanaa airport attack
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior Houthi official, warns of retaliation against Saudi Arabia for an attack on Sanaa International Airport, including a potential blockade and closure of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, raising fears of a return to all-out war in Yemen.
A leading figure in Yemen's Houthi movement, officially known as Ansar Allah, has threatened a "siege" on Saudi Arabia following an attack on Sanaa International Airport. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political bureau, said the group would respond to what it perceives as Saudi aggression.
Yemen's internationally recognized government claimed responsibility for Monday's attack, stating it aimed to prevent an Iranian plane from landing in the Houthi-controlled capital. The aircraft was carrying a Houthi delegation returning from the funeral of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in late February during the US-Israeli war on Iran. The plane was diverted to Hodeidah, a Houthi-held city on the Red Sea.
Al-Bukhaiti, who was on board the diverted flight, declared: "Their willingness to attack Sanaa Airport to prevent flights from arriving or departing gives Yemen the right to strike their airports and to impose on them a siege just as they have done to us." The Houthis have already retaliated by firing ballistic missiles at Abha International Airport in southern Saudi Arabia; the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted the missiles.
Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree said the airport attack ended the "de-escalation phase" of Yemen's conflict, which began with the Houthi takeover of Sanaa in 2014. Recent clashes in Hodeidah between Houthi and government forces threaten to shatter four years of relative calm following a temporary truce.
When asked about the possibility of closing the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a strategic waterway, al-Bukhaiti indicated all options are open: "The Bab al-Mandeb card is a strategic asset that Yemen has the luxury of utilizing. We will use this card against nations that are actively transgressing on us, but will bring no harm to nations not involved in hostilities toward Yemen."
The Houthis previously attacked ships linked to Israel and the US during the war in Gaza, paralyzing Red Sea shipping and killing at least nine sailors. Those attacks ceased after the October 2025 Gaza ceasefire. Any new escalation off Yemen's coast, combined with ongoing tensions in the Strait of Hormuz due to the US-Iran war, could further destabilize the global economy.
