Mohammad Ali al-Houthi says Saudi de-escalation claims contradict its Yemen war, calls for attacks and blockade to end and compensation to be paid

Mohammad Ali al-Houthi, a member of Ansarallah’s Supreme Political Council, responded to the Saudi Foreign Ministry by arguing that Riyadh cannot promote regional peace and security while continuing military attacks, a blockade and what he described as an occupation of Yemen. He said those actions contradict Saudi Arabia’s stated commitment to de-escalation, including its diplomatic rhetoric around its defense minister’s visit to Tehran.

Al-Houthi called on Saudi Arabia to halt its aggression, lift the blockade, withdraw from occupied Yemeni territory and compensate Yemen for destruction caused since 2015. He said Yemeni operations would also stop if Saudi attacks ceased, allowing normal life to resume.

He criticized the so-called “Mecca Defense Pact,” arguing that it addresses what its members call the Iranian crisis while concealing what he described as outright aggression against Iran. He also warned that Saudi Arabia’s previous alliances had failed and that Riyadh had turned against former partners.

Al-Houthi condemned Egypt and its parliament for supporting the defense of Saudi Arabia, saying that stance effectively amounted to declaring war on Yemen. He warned that Egypt risked repeating its military entanglement in Yemen in the 1960s, exhausting its forces and potentially leaving Sinai vulnerable to Israeli expansion and plans to displace Palestinians into Egyptian territory.

He said Yemen did not fear new military alliances, but warned countries against supporting Saudi attacks, the blockade or the occupation of Yemen. Instead, he urged them to direct cooperation against Israel, which he said was waging war across Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Iran while also threatening Egypt.

Rejecting claims that Yemen threatens regional waterways, al-Houthi said Yemen’s position helps protect Bab al-Mandab, the Suez Canal and the wider Arab and Islamic region. He added that Yemen’s political and military position had remained unchanged since 2015, and argued that U.S., British and Israeli intelligence agencies manufacture fears of unspecified threats to perpetuate divisions and conflict in the Arab and Islamic world.