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G7 foreign ministers called on Iran on Monday to end its arming and support of Yemen's Houthis, describing the group's continued attacks on Saudi Arabia as a dangerous pattern of escalation that risks undermining international trade and creating global instability.
"We condemn in the strongest terms the unacceptable continued strikes carried out by the Houthis in Yemen and against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States said in a joint statement following a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
"We call on the Houthis to immediately cease all military actions, all threats and attacks against civilian shipping, and to return to the political process in good faith."
The ministers also called on Iran "to end its arming of and support for the Houthis," alleging that Tehran is in violation of past U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The statement offered a show of solidarity with Riyadh as the Houthi movement's recent offensive has added a new dimension to the wider regional conflict.
The Houthi movement staged a rapid offensive in recent weeks to seize control of Yemen's entire Red Sea coastline, including the port city of Mocha, threatening global trade and contributing to rising energy prices.
The group's gains have cemented Iran and its allies' hold over two key waterways, including the Strait of Hormuz, that the wider Gulf and top crude exporter Saudi Arabia depend on to ship oil.
Saudi strikes on Mocha killed at least six people and wounded eight others, according to the Houthi-affiliated Saba news agency. Those strikes came after a Houthi attack on Riyadh on Saturday, the first to target the Saudi capital in years and a significant escalation by the Iran-aligned fighters.
Yemen's war, which began in 2014 with the Houthi capture of the capital Sanaa, had been largely frozen since a 2022 truce before resuming in July.
Saudi Arabia has led a coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognized government since 2015, an intervention that escalated the conflict into one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
The U.N. separately reiterated its condemnation of the cross-border Houthi attacks.
"We remain deeply concerned about the ongoing military escalation in and around Yemen, including Houthi offensives in Taiz, Lahij, and Marib, with grave consequences for civilians in Yemen and across the region," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters Monday.
Dujarric said the cross-border strikes had targeted civilian areas and vital energy infrastructure across Saudi Arabia, urging all parties to "exercise restraint and prevent any further escalation."
Recent Houthi cross-border attacks have injured civilians in southern Saudi Arabia, while renewed fighting inside Yemen has disrupted shipping routes and displaced civilians.
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