Houthi Leader Threatens Escalation Against Saudi Arabia Amid Rising Tensions

The leader of Yemen's Houthi movement, Abdul Malek al-Houthi, has threatened to escalate attacks against Saudi Arabia in a televised speech on Thursday. He accused the Saudi government of moving towards an escalation and warned that Turkish aircraft sold to Saudi Arabia would become 'unsellable' if shot down by Houthi air defenses.

The threat comes after a senior member of the movement, Mohammed Khaled Al-Ayashi, was reportedly killed in U.S.-Saudi airstrikes on Iran-backed militia facilities in eastern Iraq. The strikes were in retaliation for Houthi attacks on Saudi oil refining facilities.

Al-Houthi also claimed that the group had shot down a Turkish Baykar Akinci armed drone operated by the Royal Saudi Air Force, and accused Saudi Arabia of imposing a siege on Houthi-controlled territory.