On Friday, the US State Department condemned the Houthi group’s targeting of an oil facility in the Jizan region in southern Saudi Arabia, and indicated that the attack came days after Saudi Arabia and Yemen announced their commitment to reaching a ceasefire and engaging in peace talks led by the United Nations.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price said in a written statement that his country strongly condemns the attack on the oil facility in Jizan, describing the Houthi attacks as provocative and posing a threat to global energy supplies and to the civilian population.
He pointed out that these attacks by Al-Houthi aimed at prolonging the 6-year-old crisis, at a time when he called on the parties to return to the negotiating table and abide by the ceasefire agreement.
Houthi attacks
For its part, the Saudi official media reported that the military coalition led by Riyadh destroyed a drone launched by the Houthis towards the city of Khamis Mushait, southwest of the Kingdom.
The coalition added that the Houthis - which it described as terrorist militias - continue to "attempt to target civilians and civilian areas."
Earlier yesterday, the coalition said it destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis towards the Najran region in southern Saudi Arabia.
"These attacks came to confirm the terrorist Houthi militia's rejection of all political efforts to end the Yemeni crisis," the ministry’s spokesman, Colonel Turki Al-Maliki, said in a statement.
The Houthis are threatening
For their part, the Houthis said that they launched 18 bombed drones and 8 ballistic missiles at oil and military sites in Saudi Arabia, including the headquarters of the Aramco oil company in the areas of Ras Tanura, Rabigh, Yanbigh and Jizan, the King Abdul Aziz base in Dammam (east), and military sites in Najran and Asir.
The Houthi military spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said that the group is ready to carry out "more severe and harsh military operations during the coming period."
In the past weeks, the Houthis have intensified the launching of ballistic missiles, projectiles and marches against Saudi areas, in an attempt to completely lift the naval and land blockade of the areas under their control.
Political movement
On the political front, the United Nations Special Envoy Martin Griffiths held talks with Houthi spokesman Muhammad Abdul Salam in the Sultanate of Oman, urging the group to engage in a ceasefire and reach an agreement with the Saudi-led coalition - which controls Yemeni airspace - to reopen Sanaa airport. .
The two sides discussed the need to reach an agreement to lift the restrictions imposed by the coalition on the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah, and for the group to resume political talks with the internationally recognized Yemeni government.
And Riyadh announced a few days ago a peace initiative that includes a ceasefire in all parts of Yemen, which the war is entering its seventh year.
On the other hand, the leader of the group, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, delivered a speech on Thursday rejecting what he said were attempts by Saudi Arabia, the United States and some European countries to persuade his group to barter the humanitarian file for military and political agreements.