Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi said on Monday that the latest escalation by the Iran-backed terrorist Houthi group was a new test to the international community’s commitment to protecting peace in the country.
During a meeting in Riyadh with ambassadors whose countries are sponsoring the peace process in Yemen, he stressed that the legitimate government “did not start the escalation and did not seek it”.
The government “will not allow its commitment to peace to be exploited by the Houthis to launch attacks and then later be confronted with calls for restraint when it chooses to retaliate”, he declared.
Al-Alimi briefed the envoys on the Houthi ballistic missile and drone attacks on al-Mokha port on Yemen’s west coast. He said the attack, which claimed civilian lives including women and children, targeted civilian and services infrastructure, not a military position.
The attack was the latest in a weekslong Houthi escalation that started with the militants’ attempt to operate flights for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps at Sanaa International Airport, he went on to say.
