Yemen says it struck Sanaa airport to stop Iranian plane from landing

Yemen’s internationally recognized government said it struck Sanaa airport on Monday to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing in the Houthi-controlled capital.

The Yemeni defense ministry said the strike came after a Houthi delegation that had traveled to Tehran for the funeral of Iran’s late leader Ali Khamenei refused to return aboard a Yemenia flight, insisting instead on traveling on an Iranian aircraft.

“The terrorist Houthi militias – backed by the Iranian regime – prevented Yemeni national aircraft from landing at the airport in the capital, Sanaa, while insisting on allowing an Iranian plane to violate Yemeni territory; consequently, the airport runway was targeted,” the ministry said.

Later on Monday, Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi said the government was prepared to confront any further Iranian violations of Yemen’s sovereignty.

Al-Alimi – who summoned the council for an emergency meeting to discuss latest developments – said Yemen would not allow any aircraft to violate the its airspace.

He said he had instructed against expanding the confrontation in order to avoid fulfilling what he described as Iran’s objective of dragging Yemen into conflicts that serve Tehran’s interests.

Al-Alimi accused Iran of seeking to use Yemen as a bargaining chip in its broader regional confrontation and called on the international community and the UN Security Council “to transition from the phase of condemnation to the phase of deterrence.”

Meanwhile, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg urged both the Houthis and the Yemeni government to pursue diplomacy and avoid further escalation.

“I am actively engaging with all actors and my Office has contacted military representatives from all sides. We are urging them to de-escalate and refrain from any actions that would risk a new cycle of violence in Yemen,” Grundberg said in a post on his office’s X account.