Houthi leader says Egypt’s backing for Saudi defense is a declaration of war on Yemen


Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a senior leader of Yemen's Houthi movement, said Egypt's decision to support the defense of Saudi Arabia amounts to a declaration of war on Yemen.

"The announcement by Egypt and its parliament of support for the so-called defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a declaration of war against the Republic of Yemen," al-Houthi, a member of the Supreme Political Council in Sanaa, said in remarks carried by Arabic media on Monday evening and Tuesday. He was answering the vote on Monday in which Egypt's House of Representatives, by a two-thirds majority, authorized President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to provide military support to Saudi Arabia if asked, limited to defensive operations.

He warned Cairo against being drawn into a war that would drain its army. "We warn against luring the Egyptian forces into a new war that exhausts their capabilities and serves the plans of the Israeli enemy to pounce on Sinai," he said, according to the Yemeni journalist @alshalfia, who published the main points of his statement. "We do not pose a danger to Bab el-Mandeb; rather, we protect it as we protect the Suez Canal and other parts of our Arab and Islamic homeland," he said.

Al-Houthi also called on members of what he called the "so-called Mecca Defense Alliance," the Saudi-led security pact, to leave it and not to take part in "aggressive alliances." He said the alliance serves American and Israeli plans for dominance in the region, according to posts carrying his remarks.

In separate remarks posted by the Yemen TV account on X, he dismissed a Saudi foreign ministry statement about the defense minister Prince Khalid bin Salman's visit to Iran, saying it contradicted the escalation Saudi Arabia is carrying out against Yemen. "The real work that Saudi Arabia must do is to stop its aggression, lift its siege on our country and end its occupation of our homeland," he said. Prince Khalid held talks in Tehran together with Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and the Turkish intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin. Iran's national security council secretary said after the Tehran talks that Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye had agreed regional security must be maintained "without foreign interference," BBC Amharic reported.

The warnings came on a day of new attacks. The Saudi-led coalition said early on Tuesday that it had intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis toward the Eastern Province, a day after it said it had downed three drones over the Riyadh region and southern Saudi Arabia, Anadolu reported, and the Saudi Press Agency reported that air defenses downed two ballistic missiles fired toward Riyadh. The Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, claimed that a ballistic missile hit the Ras Tanura refinery in the Eastern Province and caused a fire. Saudi authorities had not confirmed the claim, Reuters reported. Bloomberg quoted a person with knowledge of the matter as saying a fire near Ras Tanura had been contained and that the extent of the damage was unclear. The Houthis also said they had attacked Saudi military aircraft and repelled an advance by Saudi-backed forces near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Reuters reported. Later on Tuesday, blasts shook Riyadh and a text alert told residents to seek shelter, and the coalition said it intercepted two ballistic missiles fired at the capital, Reuters reported.

Egypt has said its role is defensive. Sisi has said Egyptian forces would only help protect Saudi territory, and the parliament's statement said the authorization would apply after coordination with Riyadh, Arab News and Reuters reported. A regional official told The Associated Press that Egypt would not send ground troops.

"Do the Houthis fear Egypt's military entry, or are they trying to pressure Cairo with the Sinai card?" asked the account @Hodhod_ye, which describes itself as independent. Gamal Sultan, editor in chief of the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masryoon, wrote on X that al-Houthi had threatened Egypt and mocked the Houthi habit of blaming Israel for any position that opposes them.

Sources

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