Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Colonel Maj. Gen. Majed Al-Nazili said Saturday that the armed forces had recently detected the Houthi militia using Iranian air-defense weapons equipped with what he described as innovative technologies and tactics, which had been directed against several civilian aircraft, warning that they posed a threat to the safety of international aviation.
In a statement, Al-Nazili said the weapons had been “converted into cruise missiles launched from Hodeidah Governorate toward international air routes in the southern Red Sea.”
He explained that the missiles “remain in a roaming mode for up to 25 minutes per missile” and operate using thermal tracking systems, attacking any heat source without the ability to distinguish between military and civilian targets.
He added that this “poses a direct and serious threat to civil aviation and passengers’ lives,” including United Nations aircraft and planes operated by humanitarian and relief organizations that use these air routes in Yemen and the region.
Al-Nazili said the escalation coincided with threats issued by Iranian Supreme Leader adviser Mohammad Mokhber and Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei to target and disrupt aviation services in the region following sanctions imposed on Iranian airlines.
He stressed that threatening the airspace over the southern Red Sea and turning it into a danger zone for civilian aircraft and passengers represented a “highly dangerous escalation” that went beyond the safety of Yemeni airspace to threaten the safety of international airspace.
The Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson warned that using these Iranian weapons from Yemeni territory posed a direct threat to international air routes, stressing that the matter “cannot be considered a local Yemeni issue,” but rather a threat to international security and safety.
Al-Nazili called for a “responsible and firm” response and action by relevant authorities, particularly the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Air Transport Association.
