[14/08/2026 05:18]

NEW YORK-SABA

Bahrain has urged the UN Security Council to take a firm international position to hold the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist militias accountable and cut off their sources of funding and arms, stressing that such measures are essential to protecting civilians and safeguarding regional security and stability.

Speaking during a Security Council briefing on Yemen, Bahrain’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jamal Al-Ruwaie, reaffirmed his country’s support for the Presidential Leadership Council, headed by Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, and for Yemen’s legitimate state institutions in their efforts to achieve economic stability and meet the needs of citizens.

Bahrain condemned the Houthis’ continued violations of the truce and their efforts to undermine peace efforts in Yemen, as well as their August 6 attacks on Ma’rib and Hadramout, which killed and wounded civilians, including women and children, after the militants targeted Jaw Al-Naseem camp for internally displaced persons in Ma’rib.

It also condemned repeated Houthi ballistic missile and drone attacks since July 13 against civilian facilities and targets in Saudi Arabia, which injured several civilians, as well as the group’s continued threats to maritime security, safety, and freedom of international trade in Bab al-Mandeb and the Red Sea.

Bahrain specifically condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi vessels and the Houthi assault on the commercial vessel Tihamah in the Red Sea.

Al-Ruwaie reaffirmed Bahrain’s solidarity with Yemen and Saudi Arabia and its full support for measures taken by both countries to safeguard their sovereignty, security, and stability.

He said the situation in Yemen clearly reflects warnings Bahrain had issued in recent months, stressing that the expansion of regional conflict into Yemen is linked to the continued implementation by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias of an external agenda at the expense of Yemeni lives, security, livelihoods, and future, as well as regional security and stability.

The Bahraini ambassador also referred to the Security Council’s August 7 press statement condemning unauthorized Iranian flights to Yemen as a violation of Yemen’s sovereignty, as well as its condemnation of attacks targeting Saudi Arabia.

Bahrain stressed that freedom of navigation through vital waterways, including Bab al-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz, is an established principle of international law that must not be compromised.

It warned that overlooking such attacks would encourage those responsible to continue their actions and threats, further aggravating instability and exposing regional security and international trade to greater risks.

Bahrain also expressed deep concern over Yemen’s deteriorating humanitarian situation, calling for unhindered humanitarian access to all people in need and renewing its condemnation of the detention of UN personnel and international and humanitarian organization staff.

It called for their immediate release.

Bahrain further stressed the importance of serious and constructive engagement in the political process to reach a comprehensive and sustainable solution to the Yemen crisis, based on the three references: the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and its Implementation Mechanism, the outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference, and UN Security Council Resolution 2216 (2015).

Such a settlement, it said, must preserve Yemen’s sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, and independence and meet the Yemeni people’s aspirations for security, stability, peace, and prosperity.

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