A high-ranking Saudi official confirmed today, Saturday, that the Yemeni Houthi group submitted a ceasefire initiative that includes a truce and the opening of Sanaa airport and the port of Hodeidah, while the Arab coalition announced targeting booby-trapped Houthi drones.
A Saudi official - who preferred not to be named - said that "the Houthis put forward an initiative through mediators that includes a truce, opening the airport (Sana'a) and the port (Hodeidah) and Yemeni-Yemeni consultations."
This comes at a time when the group continues to bomb Aramco facilities and other infrastructure facilities inside Saudi Arabia.
The official added that the Houthis are continuing their attacks because they "want to announce the initiative as if they are still strong."
In mid-March, the Houthis rejected an initiative put forward by the Gulf Cooperation Council to organize a dialogue for the warring forces in Yemen.
Regarding Riyadh's position on the initiative, the official said, "We are waiting for it to be officially announced because they (the Houthis) are constantly changing their words."
The official stated that the Houthis "continue to target civilian objects in an attempt to ease the pressure of losses inside Yemen, especially since they are under Gulf and international political pressure in the Security Council."
He also repeated his country's accusations that "Iran is pushing the Houthis" to target Aramco facilities.
A diplomat based in Riyadh confirmed that the United Nations Special Envoy, Hans Grundberg, led recent efforts to reach a truce during the month of Ramadan, which begins in early April, but they were unsuccessful.
The Sultanate of Oman is leading the mediation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, according to the Saudi official and diplomats.
The Saudi official's statements came a day after the Houthis claimed a series of attacks, one of which caused a massive fire at an Aramco oil facility in Jeddah, not far from a circuit hosting a Formula 1 racing event.
Last week, the Houthis launched multiple drone attacks targeting a petroleum products distribution station in Jizan in the south of the kingdom, a natural gas plant, an oil refinery in Yanbu in the west, and the Aramco petroleum products distribution station in Jeddah.
Another Saudi official said the attacks were "widespread and unprecedented".
The attack on the facilities of "Yanbu Sinopec Refining Company" (YASREF) in Yanbu "reduced the level of the refinery's production temporarily," according to what the Saudi Ministry of Energy announced last Sunday.
The diplomat said that the Houthis are attacking Aramco precisely because it is "the most sensitive and painful for Saudi Arabia, and to achieve the greatest economic losses" for the kingdom.
preemptive bombing
For its part, the Arab coalition announced - today, Saturday - the targeting of booby-trapped drones of the Houthis, which are being prepared in two ports in Al Hudaydah Governorate (western Yemen).
In a statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency, the coalition said, "We targeted drones, which are under preparation, at the port of Hodeidah and the port of Saleef" in the Houthi-controlled province of Hodeidah.
The coalition added that the Houthis used specially protected sites to attack the kingdom's oil facilities.
The coalition said that the Houthis should remove weapons from protected sites, the first of which is Sanaa International Airport.
"The Houthis are dropping protection from protected sites by using them militarily," he added, stressing that "the military operation is continuing to achieve the principle of collective security."
Yemen has been witnessing for more than 7 years a continuous war between the pro-government forces backed by an Arab military alliance led by the neighboring Saudi Arabia, and the Iranian-backed Houthis, who control several governorates, including the capital, Sanaa.