Let this go and you tell all armed groups sovereignty can be defied, says Yemeni envoy to UN
NEW YORK CITY: Unauthorized Iranian flights to Houthi-held Sanaa Airport amount to a “real test of the principles upon which the international system is founded,” Yemen’s permanent representative to the UN, Abdullah Saadi, told the Security Council on Monday
He warned that failure to act would embolden armed groups worldwide to defy state sovereignty without fear of consequences.
Addressing an emergency session requested by Yemen’s prime minister, Saadi described the issue as potentially setting “an extremely dangerous precedent,” and raising the question of whether or not the council “is able to protect the rules of the international system and preserve international peace and security.”
It came amid a sharp escalation in the conflict between Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Iran-backed Houthis. Government forces fired on the runway at Sanaa International Airport on Monday to prevent an Iranian Mahan Air flight from landing there, and the Houthis launched ballistic missiles and drones at Abha International Airport and King Khalid Air Base in southern Saudi Arabia, which were intercepted by Riyadh’s air defenses.
