Yemen

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has taken a more conciliatory public stance towards Iran, trying to balance long-held animosity with economic considerations and bridge differences with Washington over how to tackle Tehran’s regional behaviour. Tensions between Riyadh and Tehran have festered over the Yemen war, where an Iran-aligned group has increased …

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday laid out his vision for the Kingdom’s foreign policy, with the US as a strategic partner and working with allies to find solutions to Iran’s “negative behavior.” In a 90-minute TV interview to mark the fifth anniversary of Vision 2030, the ambitious …

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on the international community to question the Houthi militia’s military assaults on Marib and the “tremendous humanitarian consequences” it has led to. Blinken’s statement, that he made on Tuesday via Twitter, came after he met with the US Envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking. …

Yemeni government officials and local human rights activists have accused the Houthis of brainwashing and training primary school students for war. Their criticism came as videos on social media showed pupils wearing military attire and inciting each other to take up arms to fight the Houthis’ enemies. In one video, …

Iran-backed Houthis have thrown abducted Yemeni model and actress Entesar Al-Hammadi into solitary confinement as punishment for her protest against the initial incarceration and prison conditions, the model’s lawyer said on Thursday. Khaled Mohammed Al-Kamal told Arab News that a prosecutor from the rebel-controlled West Sanaa court on Wednesday questioned …

League of Arab States Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Monday called on the Security Council and other UN bodies to establish a strategic working partnership with the league and its member states. The aim, he said, would be to lay the foundations for “security, stability and sustainable development in the …

Abdul Aziz Hamad Aluwaisheg, the assistant secretary general for political affairs and negotiations at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), has met with Sweden’s envoy to Yemen Peter Semneby in the Saudi capital, Riyadh on Monday. During the meeting, they discussed the latest developments in Yemen, and reviewed the GCC’s efforts …

Abducted Yemeni model Entesar Al-Hammadi has threatened to launch a hunger strike as the Houthis refuse to release her or allow local prosecutors to question her, the model’s lawyer told Arab News on Sunday. Khaled Mohammed Al-Kamal said that the Houthi-controlled Central Prison, where the model has been held since …

Iran-backed Houthis plan to launch a criminal investigation against Entesar Al-Hammadi, a young Yemeni model and actress, who was abducted from a Sanaa street on Feb. 20, the model’s lawyer Khaled Mohammed Al-Kamal said on Wednesday. The kidnapping of Al-Hammadi and two of her friends is the latest in a …

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has told Congress it is proceeding with more than $23 billion in weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates, including advanced F-35 aircraft, armed drones and other equipment, congressional aides said on Tuesday. A State Department spokesperson said the administration would move forward with the …

Yemen’s President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi has held meetings with the UN and US envoys to Yemen to discuss developments in the country and efforts to end the six-year war, with the Saudi initiative at the forefront. The new peace plan announced by the Kingdom last week includes a nationwide …

The US secretary of state called for a nationwide cease-fire in Yemen and a “durable peace agreement” during a phone call with the country’s prime minister on Thursday. “Secretary (Antony) Blinken welcomed the Republic of Yemen Government’s support for a comprehensive, nationwide cease-fire and UN-led political talks and its continued …

The Saudi-led coalition has cleared four fuel ships to dock at Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah, two sources familiar with the matter said, after Yemen’s internationally recognised government said on Wednesday it had approved entry of some vessels. The move came after the Iran-aligned Houthi group, which has been …

Saudi Arabia presented a new peace initiative on Monday to end the war in Yemen, including a nationwide ceasefire and the reopening of air and sea links, but its Houthi enemies said the offer did not appear to go far enough to lift a blockade. The initiative, announced by Saudi …

A quick skim through UK press headlines of the past week shows extensive coverage of such topics as the royal family’s fumbled response to Meghan Markle’s tell-all Oprah interview and Prince Phillip’s discharge from hospital. Competition for clicks and eyeballs was further provided by Prince Harry’s acceptance of damages from …

An air attack on an oil refinery in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Friday caused a fire that was brought under control, the energy ministry said, after Yemen’s Houthi group said it targeted the site with six drones. The refinery is operated by state-controlled oil giant Saudi Aramco. The attack, …

The U.N. Security Council on Thursday condemned an escalation in fighting in Yemen’s Marib, calling for the Houthis to end an offensive on the government’s last northern stronghold, and pushing for the government to allow fuel into Hodeidah port. In a statement, the 15-member council also condemned cross-border attacks against …

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia has responded to its removal from Washington’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) by escalating its attacks on the governments in Aden and neighboring Saudi Arabia, Brigadier General Turki Al-Malki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led Coalition, has told Arab News in an exclusive interview. The US State …

Dozens of Yemeni protesters stormed a presidential palace in the southern port city of Aden on Tuesday demanding payment of public sector salaries, witnesses said. Yemen’s Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik and other members of the internationally recognised government remain holed up inside the building, two Yemeni officials said. Most of …

Yemen’s Houthi movement said on Monday it had fired armed drones at an airport and air base in southern Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-aligned group said it had intercepted an explosive drone. This appears to be the first news of Houthi drones being fired into Saudi …

Tehran supports attacks on Saudi Arabia by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ overseas Quds Force has admitted. Ismail Qaani told a conference in the northeastern city of Mashhad that the Houthis had launched  “18 operations in less than 10 days” targeting …

Efforts to end Yemen’s conflict received a setback on Friday after the Iran-backed Houthis rejected the US peace proposal. Houthi spokesman Mohamed Abdelsalam told Almasirah TV that the American proposal for a nationwide cease-fire “has nothing in it and represents the Saudi and the UN vision.” The American proposal doesn’t …

The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that “some hopeful progress” has been made toward a ceasefire in Yemen, but more commitment was needed from the parties to the civil war. The comments were in a statement on a just-concluded visit to the region by Timothy Lenderking, the U.S. special …

Saudi authorities said on Tuesday that terrorist attacks on oil installations in the Kingdom are attacks on the global economy. During the weekly cabinet meeting, chaired by King Salman, ministers reviewed the steps being taken by the Kingdom to protect Saudi facilities and safeguard global energy security, along with efforts …

The United States on Monday expressed alarm at “genuine security threats” to Saudi Arabia from Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis and elsewhere in the region after attacks on the heart of the Saudi oil industry, and it would look at improving support for Saudi defences. Earlier in the day, the U.S. Embassy …

Yemen’s Houthi forces fired drones and missiles at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry on Sunday, including a Saudi Aramco facility at Ras Tanura vital to petroleum exports, in what Riyadh called a failed assault on global energy security. Announcing the attacks, the Houthis, who have been battling a …

The Saudi-led military coalition battling Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement said on Sunday it conducted air strikes on Houthi military targets in Sanaa and other regions after the group launched armed drones towards Saudi Arabia. The coalition, which said it had destroyed 10 armed drones, said in a statement on Saudi …

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen said it intercepted six explosive drones fired towards the kingdom on Friday, with the Houthis claiming to have launched attacks into southern Saudi Arabia since dawn. Parts of the destroyed drones fell and injured a 10-year-old boy and also a man …

Yemen’s Houthi forces fired a cross-border missile at a Saudi Aramco facility in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea city of Jeddah, a Houthi military spokesman said on Thursday, but there was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities. Saudi Aramco, whose oil production and export facilities are mostly in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern …

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on two military leaders of the Houthi movement in Yemen, accusing them of procuring weapons from Iran and organizing attacks, in the Biden administration’s first punitive action against the group. The sanctions contrast with the State Department’s decision last month to revoke terrorist …

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said a “disappointing” $1.7 billion had been pledged by countries on Monday for humanitarian aid in Yemen – less than half the $3.85 billion the world body was seeking for 2021 to avert a large-scale famine. “For most people, life in Yemen is now unbearable. Childhood …

Hundreds of Yemeni families trapped inside their camps in Marib province by Iran-backed Houthis are being used as a human shield against government forces, a Yemen government unit has claimed. In a report seen by Arab News on Saturday, the internationally recognized government’s Executive Unit for IDP Camps said that …

The Biden administration announced sanctions and visa bans on Friday targeting Saudi Arabian citizens over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but stopped short of imposing sanctions on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself. U.S. President Joe Biden’s actions in the first weeks of his administration appear aimed at …

The Iranian regime is using the Houthi militia as a pressure card against the international community and the US administration to extract concessions on the 2015 nuclear agreement, Yemeni Minister of Information Muammar Al-Eryani said on Thursday. Al-Eryani claimed that Iran is pressuring the Houthis for a military escalation in …

Israel said Monday it will compensate families whose children were taken from their parents in the early years after the state was founded, in a major development in the so-called “stolen babies” affair. Activists and family members have for decades charged that up to several thousand babies were taken in …

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed bilateral relations in a phone call with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin, state news agency SPA reported. They further discussed enhancing the defense cooperation, and developments in the region. The defense secretary also condemned the recent Houthi attacks against Saudi …

The US condemns attacks against Saudi Arabia and remains committed to helping the Kingdom defend itself, the Pentagon’s press secretary said on Wednesday. Speaking at a press briefing, John Kirby said that Houthi attacks against the Kingdom “violate international law and undermine efforts to grow peace and stability in the …

The United States urged Yemen’s Houthi movement on Tuesday to halt an offensive on the government-held city of Marib and join international efforts to find a political solution to the more than six-year civil war. The advance by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement on the last government-held city in Yemen’s north …

A fundraising event for Yemen’s humanitarian crisis is expected to take place in early March, hosted virtually by Sweden and Switzerland, four aid sources told Reuters on Sunday. A U.N.-backed push for international donors last June fell short of its $2.4 billion target, raising only $1.3 billion for what the …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said he will revoke terrorist designations of Yemen’s Houthi movement effective Feb. 16, even as he warned that members of the group could be hit with more sanctions. The Trump administration imposed the specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) and foreign terrorist organization …

At least 400,000 Yemeni children under 5 could die of starvation this year without urgent intervention amid soaring rates of severe malnutrition driven by war and the coronavirus pandemic, four U.N. agencies said on Friday. The warnings come nearly six years after the outbreak of war that rendered 80% of …

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan discussed the recent Houthi attack targeting Abha International Airport in a phone call with US Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken, state news agency SPA reported. Both sides stressed the need to stop these hostile acts and support efforts to reach a political solution to …

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group said it carried out a drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport on Wednesday which the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi forces in Yemen said caused a fire in a civilian aircraft. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said four Houthi drones were used in an attack that …

The United States expects Saudi Arabia to improve its human rights record, including releasing women’s rights activists and other political prisoners, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Friday. Pskai’s comments underscored U.S. President Joe Biden’s intention to make human right a key issue in U.S.-Saudi relations, which he pledged …