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G7 Demands Iran Halt Arms to Yemen's Houthis, Condemns Saudi Attacks

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G7 foreign ministers urged Iran to stop supplying the Houthis and condemned attacks on Saudi Arabia as fighting displaces over 120,000 Yemenis.

The foreign ministers of the G7 nations have called on Iran to halt its weapons supplies and backing for the Houthi movement in Yemen, in a joint statement released as world leaders gathered for the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York. The ministers of the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States issued the appeal after meeting on the sidelines of the summit.

In the same statement, the group denounced Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia in the sharpest possible terms and warned that the recent flare-up in fighting between the Iran-aligned movement and Saudi-supported government forces endangers energy supplies across the region and around the world. The ministers pressed the Houthis to halt every military operation, drop all threats against civilian vessels, and rejoin negotiations in earnest.

The warning follows a sharp deterioration on the ground. Thousands of people have fled Yemen over the past several days after the Houthis captured stretches of the country's Red Sea coast, including areas close to the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The narrow waterway serves as an entry point to one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes, giving the fighting there wider economic significance.

The G7 described the movement's conduct as a reckless spiral that could deepen the conflict, disrupt global commerce and destabilise the world economy. The ministers also pledged continued backing for Yemen's internationally recognised government and restated their support for the country's unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

Iran has long rejected accusations that it arms the Houthis, insisting its assistance is limited to political support. The G7 appeal arrived just before Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was scheduled to address the General Assembly.

Air strikes and missile fire

As the diplomatic pressure mounted, the Houthis leveled their own accusations against Riyadh, charging that Saudi air raids had struck civilians across territory the group controls. The Houthi-run Saba news agency reported that a pre-dawn attack on a residence in the Red Sea port of Mokha on Tuesday left six people dead, among them two children and a woman.

Saba also said nine detainees were killed when an attack hit a prison in al-Hazm, in Jawf province, late on Monday. The Houthi health ministry reported additional deaths, saying two members of a single family died in a strike in Jawf on Monday and that one person was killed in Taiz. The Saudi-led coalition backing the Yemeni government had not responded to the claims.

The violence has run in both directions. Government-aligned outlets reported that a Houthi missile struck a market in the Mudaribah wa al-Ara district of Lahj province, wounding civilians roughly 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the edge of Houthi-held ground. Verified surveillance footage captured a projectile slamming into a busy area filled with people and vehicles, setting off a powerful blast as crowds scattered through clouds of dust and smoke. There was no immediate response from the Houthis.

More than 120,000 displaced

The United Nations estimates that the abrupt intensification of combat along Yemen's Red Sea coastline has forced more than 120,000 people from their homes. The wave of displacement has accompanied a rapid Houthi advance; earlier this month the group had already taken control of most of Yemen's densely populated areas.

The combination of a widening front, threats to shipping near a strategic chokepoint and mounting civilian casualties has pushed Yemen back toward the centre of international attention. With the General Assembly under way, the G7 statement placed the war and Iran's alleged role in it directly on the agenda of the gathering in New York.

G7 Iran Houthis, Yemen war, Bab al-Mandab Strait, Houthi Saudi Arabia attacks, UN General Assembly, Yemen displacement, Red Sea shipping, Masoud Pezeshkian

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