• State Department ‘deeply concerned’ by Iran-backed militia’s aggression
• Group condemned for attacking area housing a million refugees

Arab News

RIYADH: The US on Tuesday called on Houthi militants in Yemen to stop launching attacks on Saudi Arabia. 

The State Department said it was “deeply concerned” by the Iran-backed group’s aggression, including attacks on Marib city.

Deputy Secretary Biegun and Under Secretary Hale joined a P5+3 meeting on Yemen. The Iranian-backed Houthis must stop their aggression and cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia. We call for the humanitarian crisis to be addressed and for the war to end. https://t.co/lHeSH7qlUe

— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) September 22, 2020

The statement comes after the militants have increased drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks and as the UN continues to push for a political settlement to the conflict.

“The United States remains deeply concerned by the Houthis’ aggression, supported by Iranian weapons shipments in violation of UN arms embargoes,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said.

“We call on the Houthis to immediately cease their cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia and halt their attacks on the city of Marib, where nearly a million Yemenis have sought refuge since the beginning of the war.”

The strongly-worded warning also called on the Houthis to stop  the “disgraceful treatment of journalists, opposition activists, and Yemeni Jews.”

And it contained the latest warning over a stricken oil tanker off Yemen’s coast which experts increasingly fear could explode and spark an environmental disaster.

“We call on the Houthis to cease their environmental brinkmanship and allow UN access to the Safer tanker before there is an oil spill or explosion that would bring further environmental and humanitarian calamity to Yemen, the Red Sea, and the region,” Ortagus said.

The department called on nations that had made aid pledges to Yemen to follow through and send the money across.