UN Security Council: Greece condemns Houthi attacks on Saudi airports and ships, Grundberg warns of “full-scale war” in Yemen

Greece condemned the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia at the UN Security Council, at a meeting on Yemen where the UN special envoy, Hans Grundberg, warned that the country has returned to “full-scale war”. The meeting took place on Friday, October 9, while Greece holds the Council presidency for October.

Greece’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Aglaia Balta, condemned the attacks on civilians and on energy infrastructure. As reported by ERT, she said that the ballistic-missile and drone attacks on the airports of Riyadh and Abha and on Aden airport pose a serious threat to air transport, and she expressed Athens’ support for Saudi Arabia and for Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

Shipping and Operation Aspides

The Greek ambassador made a particular reference to the safety of navigation in the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. “We condemn in the strongest terms the Houthi attacks against merchant ships,” she said, and confirmed that Greece continues to take part in the European operation Aspides, whose mission is to escort and protect merchant vessels in the area. The waterway is vital for Greek shipping, while the fighting on the Bab el-Mandeb coast keeps the region tense.

Balta also called for the immediate release of the 72 UN staff members detained by the Houthis, and spoke in favour of a political solution under UN auspices.

The UN figures

According to the data presented to the Council, 46 civilians have been killed and more than 130 injured since August, and over 200,000 people have been displaced. About 2.2 million children under five suffer from acute malnutrition, and the humanitarian response plan for Yemen is only 22% funded.

Grundberg stressed that “gains on the battlefield cannot substitute for the negotiations that will be required to settle the conflict” and called for a return to dialogue. Saudi Arabia’s representative at the meeting, Abdulaziz al-Wasil, said, according to Al Jazeera, that Riyadh will “not allow Yemen to be turned into a staging ground for threats to its security or to the freedom of navigation”.

Strikes on both sides

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation reported two attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Thursday, October 8, in which three Saudi citizens were killed. The spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition, Colonel Turki al-Maliki, spoke of a broad operation in which 136 targets were destroyed, with an emphasis on the Houthis’ ballistic-missile network. On the other side, the Houthis’ Al Masirah reported that Saudi strikes on Sanaa airport killed two people.