Saudi Arabia has warned Houthi militia leaders of the consequences of their actions, urging them to prioritize the interests of Yemenis and choose the path towards peace without dictates or conditions.
Saudi Ambassador Mohammed Al-Jaber, who also supervises the Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen, said on Twitter that the “Houthis’ reading of the international and regional position is wrong.”
His tweets came a day after the UN Security Council condemned the terrorist attack by the militias on Al-Dubba oil port in eastern Yemen’s Hadramout province.
In a statement, the UN Security Council strongly condemned the Houthi terrorist drone attacks on Oct. 21 that struck the oil terminal, where a tanker was docked, describing it as a serious threat to the peace process and stability of Yemen.
The ambassador noted that the international consensus that the Houthi attack on the port was a “terrorist act” was “a step that confirms… that classifying the Houthi as a terrorist group has become a choice decided by the future actions of the Houthi militias, which he said were not different from those of ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
Al Jaber added that the Iranian-backed Houthis were taking the Yemeni people as hostages to their actions, based on a misreading of the international and regional situation.
He stressed that the Houthis “show willingness to carry out terrorist acts, ignoring the interest of the Yemeni people and the proposals of the UN envoy for a ceasefire.”
For its part, the Yemeni Foreign Ministry welcomed the UN condemnation, pointing to “the urgent need to deter the Iranian-back terrorist Houthi militias and their actions that threaten regional and international peace and security.”
The Yemeni statement underlined “the necessity to punish the perpetrators of the attacks, and support the Yemeni government’s decision to include the Houthi militias on the list of terrorist organizations.”