Saudis and Yemen’s Houthi rebels exchange threats to escalate conflict

CAIRO (AP) — Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels and a Saudi Arabia-led coalition on Tuesday threatened to carry out new strikes against each other, a fresh escalation in the widening crisis in the Middle East.

The Saudi-led coalition in a rare statement asked civilians in Sanaa, which is controlled by the Houthis, to evacuate the site of the Yemeni Oil Company and storage areas nearby, ahead of a possible strike.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said on Telegram that any Saudi attack on Sanaa would be met with a “firm and painful” response in Riyadh.

The area to be evacuated in western Sanaa, al-Subaha, is on a hill overlooking the capital. It is not a populated area, but the fuel station nearby is used by the public.

The back-and-forth threats come as Saudi Arabia is scrambling to determine how its air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired by the Houthis, including an attack on Riyadh’s international airport on Saturday that killed at least 13 people and wounded over 300.

The latest conflict between the Saudis and the Houthis began last month after the rebels seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical waterway for the transport of Gulf oil and other goods at the southern end of the Red Sea off Yemen.

The Saudi-led coalition, backing forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, has been trying to retake them.

Earlier Tuesday, the Houthis renewed their warning against using Saudi airspace, Houthi-controlled media reported. Several airlines have suspended service to the kingdom because of the Houthi attacks on airports.

In a statement published by the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency, the Houthi-run foreign ministry referred to Saudi Arabia as the “Kingdom of the Horn of Satan” and said the kingdom “must realize that security, stability, and sovereignty must belong to everyone; otherwise, no one will enjoy them.”

Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called for the Houthis to immediately halt attacks on Saudi Arabia.

“There is no justification for these attacks, and they cannot be accepted,” Abdelatty told Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a phone call Tuesday.

Abdelatty also called for prioritizing diplomacy and a political solution to the conflict between Iran and the United States to avert “further escalation and instability” in the region, according to the Egyptian readout of the call.

The Saudi-led coalition said earlier Tuesday that three drones were intercepted north of Riyadh. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify that claim.

Saudi Arabia has been pushing for the U.S. military to provide more direct support in the fight against the Houthis.

The U.S. has provided intelligence sharing, target identification and planning for a Saudi-led offensive, but has held off on carrying out strikes against the Houthis.

A U.S. intervention could prompt the Houthis to try to halt shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb, restricting the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.

Trump told reporters in Washington on Monday that the Houthis were “misbehaving very badly,” but didn’t say anything about whether the U.S. would respond to the rebels.

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AP writers Samy Magdy in Cairo and Aamer Madhani in Jerusalem contributed.