UN Security Council condemns escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia in presidential statement

The UN Security Council on 15 October adopted a presidential statement condemning what it called escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, including strikes that affected civil aviation and energy infrastructure, according to the Council’s meeting record. The text is to be issued as S/PRST/2026/4.

The statement refers to the strikes of 10 and 11 October on King Khalid International Airport as “the reckless strikes”. It says they killed 13 people and wounded more than 300. The Council also condemned several attacks on other Saudi airports and on Saudi Aramco facilities, and expressed sympathy to the victims’ families and to the Saudi government and people. Earlier Geopolitiki coverage of the airport attack is in Riyadh: 12 dead and 309 injured in Houthi missile attack on King Khalid airport; Rubio says an American is among the victims, which carried the figures available at the time.

Red Sea and arms embargo

The Council also condemned Houthi attacks and threats against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab, and stressed the need to protect vessels and crews. It underlined international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, freedom of navigation and international humanitarian law.

Members called for full implementation of resolution 2216 (2015) and later resolutions, and urged cooperation, including with Yemen’s government, to stop the Houthis obtaining arms, materiel, training, financing or other support. The statement says: “All Member States must adhere to their obligations regarding the targeted arms embargo.”

Saudi Arabia’s right to self-defence

The Council expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia “in the face of attacks impacting civilians and civilian objects on its territory” and affirmed the country’s inherent right of self-defence under international law. It recalled its press statements of 7 August (SC/16429) and 18 September (SC/16458), which demanded that the Houthis halt their escalation and attacks on civilians.

On the political track, the statement reaffirms support for Yemen’s government and for the country’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity. It says sustainable peace cannot come through violence, coercion or force, and backs the efforts of UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg toward a negotiated, inclusive, Yemeni-led political settlement.

A presidential statement is agreed by all Council members and is read out at a public meeting, but unlike a resolution it is not legally binding. The meeting record on which this report is based does not name individual speakers. The Council’s previous Yemen briefing, in which Greece condemned the attacks and Grundberg warned of full-scale war, is covered in UN Security Council: Greece condemns Houthi attacks on Saudi airports and ships, Grundberg warns of “full-scale war” in Yemen.