By Atlantic Reports

Iran has urged Saudi Arabia to pursue a diplomatic solution to its escalating conflict with Yemen’s Houthi movement, warning that continued military action would make the crisis harder to resolve.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the appeal during a telephone conversation with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry.

“Insisting on a military approach and disregarding a political solution would only further complicate the situation,” Araghchi said.

The ministry said Iran was prepared to “provide any form of support” to help initiate negotiations.

The appeal followed a sharp escalation in hostilities over the weekend, including a deadly attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Officials reported that more than a dozen people were killed and hundreds injured in Saturday’s attack. A separate strike on Sunday killed one person and injured 11, according to the Saudi-led coalition. reuters.com

The Iran-allied Houthis claimed responsibility for attacks on Saudi infrastructure and warned that the kingdom’s airports and airspace were “legitimate targets”.

The movement said it had launched ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones at airports and energy facilities, including sites belonging to Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company, Aramco.

The Houthis also alleged that Saudi Arabia carried out more than 120 airstrikes on Sana’a and other Yemeni provinces within 24 hours.

The claimed scale of those strikes and the full extent of damage from the Houthi operations could not be independently verified.

The attacks have placed travellers and airport workers at risk while disrupting flights. Saudi authorities were assessing damage to airport facilities following the strikes. reuters.com

The Houthis have fought Yemen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government for more than a decade. A truce reached in 2022 largely froze the conflict, but renewed fighting has unfolded against the backdrop of the wider war involving Iran.

Tehran’s offer signals support for renewed negotiations, but the Iranian account of the call did not indicate whether Saudi Arabia had accepted the proposal or whether talks had been scheduled.

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