[10/08/2026 06:40]

RIYADH-SABA
His Excellency President Dr. Rashad a-Alimi, Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) confirmed that the recent escalation by the Houthi terrorist militias represents a new test of the international community's seriousness in protecting the peace opportunities that the Yemeni government and friendly countries have invested in over the years.

"The Yemeni State did not start this escalation, nor was it seeking it, but at the same time, it will not allow its commitment to peace to become an open statement for the militias to choose when and where to attack, and then ask everyone to exercise restraint when a response comes", he remarked.

The President made his statement during his meeting today, Monday, with the Ambassadors of the countries sponsoring the political process in Yemen.

He addressed the Houthi terrorist ballistic missiles and drones attack on al-Mokha port, resulted in civilian casualties, including women and children.

The President explained that the target was not a military site, but rather a sea dock and service facilities, cargo and food handling cranes, and several commercial ships docked at the port. It also caused large damage to the Saudi hospital, the immigration and passport office and water projects.

President al-Alimi remarked that what happened in al-Mokha was part of a series of escalating events over the past weeks, starting with attempts to fly Revolutionary Guard flights to Sana’a, targeting commercial ships, and hitting civilian sites in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, all the way to terrorist attacks in Marib and Hadhramaut on military positions, sovereign installations, civilian properties, and displaced persons' camps.

The President also recalled the government's repeated warnings to the international community that it is impossible to build sustainable peace with an armed group that possesses ballistic missiles, dictates decisions of peace and war, and above all, considers its leaders to be a God-given lineage, above the State and the rule of law.

The Chairman of the PLC said "I want to remind our friends that the Yemeni government did not try the military option first; instead, it tried peace first. With exceptional patience, we respected the truce, controlled our impulses, facilitated air and sea transport and the flow of goods, responded to the efforts of the UN, our brothers, and friends, and bore a significant political and economic cost because we believe that the lives of Yemenis are worth more than anything else".

The President argued that what we are seeing today is the result of years of international leniency and incentives that this rogue group thought it could take more of through missiles and suicide drones.

the President explained that the field and political equation has changed, and that the militias must realize that the era of cost-free aggression is over, saying " the Yemeni armed forces are more ready today, and that recent developments have proven that any attack on Marib, Hadhramaut or the western coast does not go unpunished, and it was not just an attack on a single front, but an attack on the entire State.

The State will no longer allow the militias to monopolize the decision of when, where, and how to start confrontations and then also monopolize the decision of when they should stop, al-Alimi stressed.

The President called on the international community to bear responsibility in protecting the rules of the international system, which include protecting civilians, the sanctity of civilian facilities and property, commercial ports, and state sovereignty, and rejecting the use of missiles and drones to gain illegitimate advantages.

He warned that silence or ambiguous language does not help in calming things down; rather, it could be interpreted by the militias as an opportunity for further escalation.

The President said "We are not asking our friends for statements of solidarity with the government as much as we are asking to defend rules that should concern the entire international system. Do not equate the State with terrorist militias again".

The Chairman of the PLC called on the international community to take a clear and swift political stance condemning the targeting of ports, civilian facilities, and civilians, and to hold the militias responsible for the escalation.

Al-Alimi underscored the importance of supporting the Yemeni government's right to protect its citizens, institutions, and economic facilities within the framework of international law.

He addressed the Ambassadors of the countries sponsoring the political process, saying: "Our friends have asked us over the past years to give peace a chance, and we did that responsibly, maybe even more than expected.

Today, we ask our friends to give the State a chance as well".

the Ambassadors of the countries sponsoring the political process strongly condemned the recent Houthi escalation and attacks on government forces, civilian sites, and economic facilities, including the port of al-Mokha, as well as the attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and commercial ships.

They affirmed their countries' support for efforts to confront these threats, protect civilians, and ensure the freedom and security of international navigation.

The Ambassadors reiterated their countries' support for the PLC and the government, praising the State's self-restraint and responsibility during the Houthi escalation wave, its commitment to international law.

They also confirmed their rejection of using violence, missiles and drones to extract

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