Yemeni Forces Bomb Sanaa Airport Runway to Block Iranian Flight, Houthis Blame Saudi Arabia and Vow Retaliation

What happened

On Monday, July 13, 2026, warplanes struck the runway at Sanaa International Airport in Yemen's Houthi-controlled capital. The stated goal was to stop an Iranian aircraft, a Mahan Air flight carrying a Houthi delegation, from landing, according to footage cited by Clash Report and reported by India Today.

Yemen's defence ministry, representing the internationally recognized government based in Aden, said its own armed forces targeted the runway to block the plane. A military spokesman for that government later confirmed the aircraft wasn't hit and diverted safely to Hodeidah International Airport, also Houthi-controlled, about 150 kilometers southwest of Sanaa, according to Reuters reporting carried by Al-Monitor.

The Houthis tell a different story. Military spokesman Yahya Saree accused Saudi Arabia directly, calling the strikes "blatant aggression" that "shattered a period of relative calm" and warning that Riyadh "will bear the consequences." Another Houthi official, Hazem al-Assad, said Saudi Arabia "has dug its own grave," according to ZeroHedge.

Who actually did it is unresolved

The Yemeni government's own defence ministry claimed responsibility for the strike, saying its forces hit the runway. Saudi Arabia's government communications office did not respond to the Houthi accusations, according to Reuters via Al-Monitor. No Saudi official has publicly confirmed carrying out the strike.

ZeroHedge's headline flatly states "Saudi Jets Bomb Sanaa Airport," adopting the Houthi framing as fact. The Yemeni government, which Saudi Arabia backs but does not control outright, claimed the operation as its own. Given the government's forces have limited independent air power, Saudi involvement is plausible and consistent with the kingdom's history of backing Aden-based operations. But it hasn't been confirmed by Riyadh, and treating it as settled fact overstates what's proven.

The airspace dispute behind it

Yemen's government says this has been building for weeks. An official statement said the government tried "by all diplomatic and legal means" to convince Tehran and the Houthis to stop Iranian flights from entering Yemeni airspace, and that its "patience has run out." The defence minister said mediation efforts had been exhausted and warned that government forces would respond to any aircraft entering Yemeni airspace going forward, per India Today.

Direct Iranian flights into Houthi-controlled Sanaa have happened before, over standing Saudi objections. Monday's strike marks the first time the government or its backers moved from objection to direct military action against the airport itself.

Wider fallout

Yemen's general aviation authority ordered all airports nationwide closed in the immediate aftermath, then reopened them hours later, according to Al-Monitor. A Yemeni government minister, Moammar bin Mutahar Al-Eryan, said the Houthis retaliated by detaining an International Committee of the Red Cross aircraft at Sanaa airport, holding its pilot and co-pilot. No further details on the ICRC crew's status have been reported.

The strike lands on top of a 2022 truce between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition that has largely held for nearly four years, despite Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping tied to the Israel-Gaza war and broader regional tension linked to the Iran conflict, according to Al-Monitor. Saudi Arabia has stayed comparatively insulated from direct Iranian retaliation throughout that period. A return to open conflict with the Houthis would end that insulation.

Yemen's civil war, which began when the Houthis seized Sanaa and drove the government south to Aden, triggered what the United Nations and multiple outlets have long called one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The coalition that once fought the Houthis fractured further late last year when a UAE-backed separatist movement swept through southern territory, according to Al-Monitor.

What's next

Saree's warning that Saudi Arabia "will bear the consequences" hasn't yet translated into a specific Houthi action beyond the reported ICRC plane detention. Whether Saudi Arabia issues any public statement confirming or denying its role in the strike, and whether the 2022 truce survives this week, are the two open questions hanging over Sanaa right now.