The United Nations Security Council on Friday (September 25, 2026) condemned escalating attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemeni Houthi fighters in a rare show of unity from the UN’s top body.
The council stressed the importance of upholding international law and freedom of navigation. A ground campaign being waged by Houthi forces against Saudi-backed Yemeni forces is also threatening a humanitarian crisis, with 138,000 people displaced across Yemen since August, with 70,000 children among them, according to the UN. That is the highest level of displacement since a 2022 truce. Over 3,500 people have made the dangerous journey across the water to the east African nation of Djibouti, the International Organization of Migration said.
“The members of the Security Council condemned, in the strongest terms, continued Houthi attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including attacks impacting civilian and energy infrastructure, which have resulted in the injury of civilians, including women and children,” said the rotating president of the council, French UN envoy Jerome Bonnafont, delivering a joint statement. The body also “demanded the Houthis immediately cease their military escalation and their attacks impacting civilians and civilian objects,” according to the statement. “(In) Yemen’s deepening humanitarian crisis, where civilians continue to bear the brunt of this conflict, tens of thousands of people have already been displaced by the recent escalation and hostilities, with thousands fleeing the conflict, looking for safety in Djibouti and elsewhere,” he said. The Security Council statement called for “full, safe, rapid, and unhindered humanitarian access to all civilians in need.”
Washington and its allies, including Saudi Arabia and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, accuse Iran of backing the Houthi militant movement.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian denied the allegation on Thursday (September 24, 2026), saying “the Houthis are responsible for their own actions.”
