Yemen's permanent representative to the United Nations, Abdullah Ali Fadhel al-Saadi, and Saudi Arabia's envoy called Friday on the UN Security Council to take action against the Houthis, accusing the Iran-backed group of escalating violence and threatening regional and international security.
The UN Security Council convened under the agenda item "Situation in the Middle East" to address developments in Yemen. Al-Saadi told the council that the Houthi threat was "no longer an internal Yemeni affair" and urged decisive, practical measures to cut off funding, weapons and technology flowing to the group.
Al-Saadi accused the Houthis of escalating attacks, recruiting child soldiers and displacing civilians. He said more than 100 children had been killed in September alone and that the group had attacked schools and markets, displacing over 200,000 people. He also condemned recent Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia's envoy, Abdulaziz al-Wasil, told the council that the Houthis were increasingly targeting civilians, recruiting child soldiers and threatening shipping in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait. He condemned what he called "blatant" attacks on Saudi airports and said Riyadh would "not allow Yemen to be turned into a staging ground for threats to its security or to the freedom of navigation."
Al-Saadi stated that the current session was taking place during a period when the Houthi militia's continued escalation of violence threatened the lives of Yemen's population, the security of neighboring countries, the region and one of the world's most important shipping lanes.
Al-Saadi called on the Security Council to take "decisive, practical measures" and urged enhanced cooperation with Yemen's internationally recognized government. He said lasting peace would require ending the Houthi coup, restoring state control over national territory and ensuring Yemen does not become a platform for threats to regional and international peace and security.
Saudi Arabia also urged the UN Security Council to respond to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the region.