The Houthis marked the 2014 takeover of Yemen with a stern warning to Saudi Arabia, which leads a coalition supporting the country’s internationally recognised government.
Defence Minister, General Nasir Al-Atifi and Chief of General Staff, General Yusuf Al-Madani assured continued allegiance to the movement’s leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
“We are ready to execute your strategic decisions to deter aggressors and protect the nation’s assets,” the officials pledged in a statement on Sunday.
They noted that the feats of Houthi forces on the battlefronts are an extension of the revolution’s goals to “restore sovereignty and defeat schemes of subjugation.”
The Shia Islamist group vowed “costly escalatory measures” against Saudi Arabia’s heartland and strategic interests, as well as “a decisive and earth-shattering response” to any aggression.
Saudi-linked vessels, the statement declared, will encounter fire and interdiction “until they taste the same blockade and injustice they inflicted upon our people.”
The Houthis have expanded their territorial control in Yemen, capturing the Red Sea coastline and establishing command over the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Over the weekend, the Saudi-led alliance confirmed that the Iran-backed organisation had fired missiles and drones at Riyadh, causing a fire near the international airport.
The Kingdom retaliated with airstrikes targeting the provinces of Al-Jawf, Marib and Taiz, using F-15 and Typhoon aircraft that flew from the Khamis Mushait and Taif air bases.
Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree reported the offensive, saying Saudi Arabia had conducted more than 700 strikes in Yemen since the latest hostilities began after years of fragile peace.
The renewed conflict between both sides broke out on July 13 after a projectile hit Sanaa/Sara Airport, preventing an Iranian plane carrying a Houthi delegation from landing.