UN Security Council Condemns Houthi Attacks on Saudi Arabia

The United Nations Security Council on Friday condemned escalating attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen's Houthis, issuing a rare joint statement.

The Houthis have imposed a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, impacting its tankers and seizing parts of the Red Sea coast vital for oil exports, which has caused energy prices to rise. The Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the continued Houthi attacks, including those impacting civilian and energy infrastructure, which resulted in civilian injuries.

French UN envoy Jerome Bonnafont, delivering the statement, stressed the importance of acting in accordance with international law and upholding navigation rights. The body demanded the Houthis immediately cease their military escalation and attacks. French President Emmanuel Macron announced that military resources would be sent to protect the Yanbu oil site in Saudi Arabia from threats by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Macron stated French forces would not engage in fighting but would protect the strategic energy facility. The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Turkiye, and Saudi Arabia discussed plans to convene a meeting of their chiefs of staff to assist Riyadh under the Makkah Defence Alliance, a pact stipulating that an attack against one party is an attack against all. The ministers condemned heinous attacks targeting the holy city of Makkah and civilian and economic facilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.