Iran Rejects Saudi Claims It Encouraged Houthi Attacks as Violence Escalates in Yemen

Iran has rejected Saudi Arabia’s allegation that it encouraged Yemen’s Houthi rebels to step up attacks against the kingdom, as missile and drone strikes continue to raise tensions across the region.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei issued the denial on Friday, a day after Saudi deputy minister for public diplomacy Dr. Rayed Krimly accused Tehran of encouraging the latest escalation.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran rejects any claim that Iran has played a role in Yemeni (Houthi) operations,” Baqaei said.

He maintained that the Houthis make their own decisions, adding: “Yemen’s armed forces act according to their own interests and assessments, and such claims are not credible to those familiar with relations between Iran and its friends. Nevertheless, Iran does not consider an escalation of tensions to be in the interests of any party.”

Iran also renewed its offer to help mediate between the Houthis and their opponents. Baqaei said Tehran “has always been ready to use its good offices to help end the hostilities”.

Krimly had previously said the Houthis turned down an offer to hold talks in Oman at the beginning of the latest wave of fighting.

Saudi coalition reports missile and drone interceptions

The Saudi-led military coalition said on Friday that it had intercepted several drones and missiles targeting areas in Saudi Arabia and over the Red Sea.

The coalition spokesman said it had “intercepted and destroyed three drones in the southern area and Riyadh… and two cruise missiles over the Red Sea”.

He also reported that “in the past hours, we intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile over Yanbu”, a coastal city that serves as the endpoint of a major oil pipeline.

The latest incidents come amid a broader surge in Houthi attacks that began after the group launched a rapid offensive in September, capturing strategic government-held territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, near a critical route for international shipping.

Since Yemen’s civil war intensified again in July, the Houthis have repeatedly attacked Saudi targets, including oil infrastructure, Red Sea tankers and Riyadh’s international airport. One attack on the airport last week killed 13 people.

The escalation has increased pressure on Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, at a time when energy markets are already facing uncertainty following Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz in February during the wider Middle East war.

Missiles hit Aden airport perimeter

Fighting has also continued around Aden, the interim capital of Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

Government forces, supported by Saudi airstrikes, have mounted a counteroffensive to regain territory captured by the Houthis but have yet to overturn the group’s advances.

Aden’s local security office said on Friday that two missiles landed within the airport perimeter, describing it as “in the second incident of its kind in less than a week”. No fatalities were reported in the incident.

The Houthis said the strike targeted “the Saudi forces’ command headquarters” and a weapons depot.

Yemen’s information ministry reported that a Yemenia Airways flight from Aden to Cairo narrowly avoided being struck while preparing to depart.

The aircraft was “preparing for takeoff at the very moment when the terrorist Houthi militia targeted the airport with two missiles that landed approximately 500 metres from the aircraft and about 100 metres from the centre of the runway,” the ministry said.

It added: “What occurred was not merely an assault on a civilian airport, but a direct threat to the lives of passengers and flight crews, to aviation safety, and a grave violation of international laws and norms.”

The airport incident followed a Houthi missile strike on Aden’s presidential palace the previous day. Yemen’s health minister said five people were killed and 16 wounded.

Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani denounced the attack as a “cowardly” act in a post on X, calling it a “continuation of (the Houthis’) criminal pattern”.

A government minister who spoke anonymously said the strike hit command centres used by Yemeni and Saudi coalition forces within the palace complex.

Houthi-affiliated media, meanwhile, said the attack targeted “the headquarters of military operations, led by Saudi officers, at the Al-Maashiq Palace in Aden”.

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