DUBAI: Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry welcomed the UN Security Council’s condemnation of the Houthi militia’s attacks against the Kingdom, including strikes against civilian facilities, airports and energy infrastructure as well as the ongoing threats to navigation in the Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab.
“We emphasize the importance of the Security Council’s call for cooperation to prevent Houthis from acquiring weapons,” said the ministry in a statement on X on Friday.
“We appreciate the security council’s solidarity in confronting attacks targeting civilians,” the statement added.
Council members on Thursday condemned “in the strongest terms” the escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, and affirmed the Kingdom’s “inherent right” to self-defense.
The presidential statement highlighted in particular the deadly strikes against Riyadh’s main airport this month.
They condemned “the reckless strikes” on Oct. 10 and 11 targeting King Khalid International Airport, which killed 14 people and wounded more than 300.
The Iran-backed Houthis have carried out 20 attacks on King Khalid International Airport since Oct. 1, Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki, the coalition’s spokesperson, said on Thursday.
They also cited “multiple strikes on other airports and Saudi Aramco facilities” across the Kingdom, which they said had hit civilian aviation and energy infrastructure and killed and injured civilians.
The comments marked a clear step up in the Security Council’s response to the crisis. A presidential statement requires the agreement of all 15 members of the council and is read into the formal record at a public meeting.
That gives it more weight than the previous press statements issued by the council on Aug. 7 and Sept. 18, which Thursday’s text referenced. Those earlier statements had demanded the Houthis “immediately cease their military escalation” and their attacks on civilians and civilian objects.