The Yemeni government on Wednesday warned of a serious threat to the safety and security of international civil aviation over the southern Red Sea, citing the use of Iranian-origin weapons launched by the Houthis from areas under their control in Hudaydah toward international air routes.
The government called for urgent international action to address the threat and enforce the arms embargo imposed on the Houthis, according to Yemen’s official Saba news agency.
Saba said the warning was conveyed in a letter sent by Yemen’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations to UN Security Council President Jérôme Bonnafont and Secretary-General António Guterres.
The Yemeni government said it had recently documented the use of Iranian-origin air-defense weapons by the Houthis that were modified inside Yemen with the involvement of experts from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The weapons were reportedly converted into missiles capable of remaining airborne for up to 25 minutes.
According to the government, the weapons use heat-seeking systems that track heat sources without distinguishing between military and civilian targets. It stressed that launching such weapons near international air routes poses a direct and serious threat to civilian aircraft and their passengers, including UN and humanitarian flights operating in Yemen and the wider region.
The government said the development represented a dangerous escalation whose consequences extend beyond Yemen. It noted that after repeatedly targeting commercial vessels and threatening international navigation in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Houthis were now developing and using capabilities that threaten international civil aviation over the same strategic corridor.
It stressed that efforts to address maritime security threats in the Red Sea must also take into account the emerging danger to civil aviation in the area’s airspace.
The government said the modification of the weapons with the direct involvement of IRGC experts provided further evidence of continued Iranian military and technical support for the Houthis, allowing them to expand the geographical and operational scope of threats against Yemen, neighboring countries and international maritime traffic.
It called on all UN member states to fully and effectively implement the arms embargo imposed under relevant Security Council resolutions, particularly Resolution 2216 of 2015. It also urged greater practical cooperation with the Yemeni government to prevent the transfer of weapons, equipment, components, technology and military expertise to the Houthis, as well as training, financing and other assistance linked to military activities.
The government further called for urgent coordination with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and other international aviation bodies to assess risks to civilian aircraft and international air routes over the southern Red Sea and take the necessary measures to protect international civil aviation.
Yemen said it was prepared to provide the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen, established under Resolution 2140 of 2014, and other relevant international bodies with available technical evidence and information, including launch-site data and projectile trajectories. It requested that the information be examined within the mandates of those bodies to assess the weapons’ nature, origin and operating mechanisms, as well as the networks involved in their transfer and development.
The government stressed that addressing these threats requires effective implementation of Security Council resolutions and continued international support for the restoration of its sovereign authority over its territory, airspace, coastlines and ports, preventing them from being used to threaten regional security and international navigation.
In July, a truce reached in 2022 between the Houthis and the Yemeni government collapsed after the Houthis accused Riyadh of bombing Sanaa airport to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing there. The Houthis later announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia in response to what they described as a blockade of areas under their control, and resumed attacks on Saudi oil tankers and facilities.
The Houthis expanded their areas of control at the expense of the internationally recognized government to include the entire western coastline overlooking the Red Sea, including the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The waterway has gained increasing importance for Riyadh as a route for exporting its oil amid restrictions imposed by Iran on navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
The war in Yemen began in 2014, when the Houthis launched a broad offensive against government forces and seized Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, one of the world’s poorest countries. Saudi Arabia has led a coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognized government since 2015.
Source: Saba News Agency
