Yemeni President: Armed Forces Will Continue to Defend National Sovereignty
Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi said the state, through all its institutions and armed forces, would continue carrying out its constitutional duty to protect Yemen’s sovereignty and safeguard the interests of its citizens, while keeping the door open to any serious peace initiative capable of ending the Houthi takeover.
In a message addressed to Yemenis living in Houthi-controlled areas, al-Alimi said that policies of escalation and coercion had brought the country nothing but further suffering, stressing that the state would not abandon its responsibility to defend the country and its people.
His remarks followed an escalatory speech by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, who threatened a wider confrontation and warned that airports, ports, oil facilities and other vital infrastructure could be targeted if hostilities against the group intensified.
The Houthi speech marked a shift from broad political warnings toward more explicit military threats, raising concerns that the group is preparing the public for a new round of regional and domestic escalation.
Al-Alimi also held the Houthis responsible for disrupting air travel and worsening the suffering of passengers, saying the government had repeatedly proposed operating flights through Yemen’s national carrier, while the group detained Yemenia Airways aircraft and seized the company’s funds.
He further called on Yemeni tribes and families in Houthi-controlled areas not to allow their sons to be used as fuel for what he described as futile wars that serve neither the country nor its future.
The president’s emphasis on the armed forces and the protection of sovereignty signals that the government is treating the latest Houthi threats as a direct security challenge and is laying the political and legal groundwork for possible defensive measures, while continuing to present peace as an available option if it ends the armed takeover and restores state authority.
