The Houthi rebels launched attacks on infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, in retaliation marking a new escalation in the conflict that pits the Iran-backed group against the Saudi kingdom. Riyadh responded with the promise to retaliate against the attacks.
The conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia has been dragging on for about a decade, having known periods of relative calm interspersed with outbreaks of violence. The civil war in Yemen, which erupted in 2014 when the Houthis took the capital Sanaa, turned into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The rebels, backed by Iran, have been trying to consolidate their position on Yemen's western coast, a strategic region that allows them to control sea routes and threaten commercial traffic in the Red Sea. This attempt at advance comes at a time of renewed regional tension.
