SANAA (Dispatches) – Yemeni forces launched missile and drone attacks on multiple military targets across Saudi Arabia on Monday, hitting King Khalid Air Base and Abha International Airport.
At least six missiles were fired towards Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Asir province, near the Yemeni border. Explosions were heard in the city of Jeddah, where aviation data confirmed the international airport had been closed and flights diverted.
The second wave of attacks targeted King Khalid Air Base in the Asir region, a major Saudi air force installation hosting F-15 fighter squadrons that have conducted operations against Yemen since 2015. Smoke was reported rising from the base.
Muhammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Ansarullah political council, warned that Yemen possesses the capability to strike deep into Saudi territory, including oil and gas facilities. He said the only way for Riyadh to prevent further attacks was to announce an end to aggression and lift the blockade on Yemen.
“The Yemeni people have legitimate and just demands, and if they are not met, Yemeni forces have the right to attack the depths of Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” al-Bukhaiti said.
The attacks came after Saudi-led coalition warplanes struck Sanaa International Airport on Monday in the first such strikes since 2021.
Saudi officials urged citizens in Abha to refrain from filming or sharing footage of the events, according to social media reports.
Yemeni media outlets reported that further responses were forthcoming, with reports of multiple explosions in Jeddah still emerging. There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities on the attacks or the extent of damage.
The strikes came as Yemen’s Ansarullah movement declared an end to the de-escalation phase with Saudi Arabia on Monday after airstrikes hit Sanaa International Airport in an attempt to prevent an Iranian passenger plane from landing.
The strikes, which targeted the airport’s runway, prompted the Sanaa government to declare a “new phase” of confrontation with the Saudi-led coalition that has been occupying Yemen since 2015.
The Iranian Mahan Air aircraft carrying a Yemeni political delegation returning from the funeral of martyred Leader of the Islamic
Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei was forced to divert and land in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah instead.
“In a blatant and unjust aggression, the criminal Saudi enemy has carried out several airstrikes targeting Sanaa International Airport, thereby ending the phase of de-escalation and bearing responsibility for the consequences of its aggression,” Brigadier General Yahya Saree, spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, said in a statement.
Saree warned that “this aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished”.
The Foreign Ministry of the Sanaa-based government described the attack as a declaration of war that would usher in a “new phase” of expelling Saudi-led coalition forces from the country.
“The Saudi regime will discover that it has placed itself in a major strategic predicament and will pay a heavy price as a result,” the ministry said in a statement.
Despite the Saudi strikes aimed at preventing the aircraft from landing, the Iranian passenger plane touched down safely at Hodeidah Airport, where it was met by thousands of Yemenis waving flags and chanting in support.
Video footage shared on social media showed crowds gathering at the airport, celebrating what they described as a symbolic breaking of the decade-long air blockade. The arrival of the Iranian plane, which had departed from Tehran, was seen by many Yemenis as a message that the aerial siege was no longer acceptable.
The Sanaa-based Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing gratitude to the Islamic Republic of Iran for a “great and courageous stance” in breaking the siege imposed on Sanaa International Airport.
The ministry said the step is “held in high esteem and appreciation, and will remain in the hearts of the Yemeni people”.
“The Yemeni people will not forget the honorable, principled, and humanitarian stance of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and will build upon it many practical steps that strengthen the bonds of faith-based brotherhood and areas of cooperation in various fields,” the statement added.
The ministry reiterated that “years of blockade against Yemen have ended and will never return,” emphasizing that reopening Sanaa Airport is a “sovereign right” of Yemen.
The strikes, the first to target Sanaa airport since 2021, came after more than a week of mounting tensions between Yemen’s warring sides over direct flights between Tehran and Sanaa.
The Saudi-led coalition has enforced a strict air and sea blockade on Sanaa and other areas since its intervention in 2015, severely restricting commercial flights to the capital’s airport and access to key ports.
The blockade has been repeatedly condemned by the United Nations for exacerbating Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.
The Mahan Air aircraft carrying the Yemeni delegation ultimately landed in Hodeidah after the strikes made landing in Sanaa impossible, according to Ansarullah military sources.
The Yemeni Transport Ministry described the attack as a U.S.- and Israeli-backed attempt to reinforce the years-long Saudi blockade on Yemeni ports and airports.
“The brutal Saudi aggression and this crime will not pass without a response,” the ministry said in a statement. “Let the Saudi enemy and the Americans behind it know that the era of tutelage over Yemen has come to an end.”
Ansarullah officials vowed a decisive response. Muhammad Ali al-Houthi, a member of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, said the United States and its “Saudi agent” are responsible for the aggression and the continued siege and bombardment of civilian targets including the airport.
Khalid al-Shayef, director of Sanaa International Airport, condemned the strike as a “war crime” targeting a civilian facility “without any reason or justification”.
The airport has been under a Saudi-imposed blockade for more than a decade, with severe restrictions imposed on commercial flights. Sick and wounded Yemenis have for years faced restrictions when trying to leave the country for urgent medical treatment, aid groups have repeatedly documented.
Footage from the airport showed smoke rising and debris scattered near the runway, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. The Yemeni defense ministry under the Sanaa government issued evacuation orders for the airport and surrounding areas following the strike.
The strikes mark a significant escalation in Yemen’s long-running conflict, which began in 2014 when a Saudi-backed regime fled Sanaa and went into exile. A Saudi-led coalition including the UAE intervened the following year in an attempt to restore the fugitive regime to power.
A UN-brokered truce agreed in 2022 brought a significant reduction in hostilities and led to a period of “relative calm” that had largely held despite the absence of a formal peace agreement, according to UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg.
In a statement, Grundberg expressed concern about the risk of wider escalation and called on all parties to engage in dialogue to preserve the fragile stability Yemen has experienced since the truce took effect.
But Ansarullah officials made clear the attack had irrevocably broken the period of de-escalation.
“Our response will never be delayed,” said Ali al-Qahoum, a member of the Houthi political bureau, according to Houthi-affiliated media. “The equation of breaking the siege, under any circumstances, continues, and the enemies are fully responsible for whatever happens.”
The Saudi-led war has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with the UN estimating that hundreds of thousands have died as a direct or indirect result of the war and blockade. Millions have been displaced across the Arab world’s poorest country.
Ansarullah Warns of Closing Bab el-Mandeb
A senior Yemeni official warned that Ansarullah forces are prepared to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which could send oil prices soaring to $200 a barrel, if Saudi Arabia persists in its aggression against Yemen’s critical infrastructure.
Muhammad al-Farah, a member of the political bureau of the Ansarullah movement, said that Washington is provoking the Riyadh regime to strike Yemen, emphasizing such incitement would never serve U.S. interests.
“If the current situation aggravates, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Hormuz will be closed in an operational alliance. Oil prices would then skyrocket to $200 a barrel in a dreadful shock,” al-Farah said.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a vital shipping chokepoint linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, funneling maritime traffic towards the Suez Canal. At its narrowest point, just 29 kilometers wide, it restricts vessel movement to two lanes for inbound and outbound traffic. Approximately 8.8 million barrels of oil and petroleum products pass through the strait daily.
Al-Farah noted that the Sanaa government’s response to any clear aggression by Saudi Arabia or its proxy forces will be decisive and will target sites deep inside the kingdom.
The Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb together form the main artery for global oil flows. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Bab el-Mandeb ranks third globally among oil transit chokepoints after the Straits of Hormuz and Malacca. Analysts have warned that any disruption to navigation in these corridors could create inflationary pressure on global supply chains.
Al-Farah’s warning also follows statements from other Ansarullah officials who have previously confirmed readiness to close the strait in response to U.S. policies. In April, Hussein al-Ezzi, a senior Ansarullah figure, declared that “if Sanaa decides to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, neither people nor jinn will be able to open it”.