G7 foreign ministers demand Houthis halt strikes

G7 foreign ministers have condemned what they called “unacceptable continued strikes” by Yemen’s Houthis against Saudi Arabia.

The ministers issued the statement on Monday following an informal meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

"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 statement reads.

They also called on Iran to stop supporting the group, saying Tehran is in violation of past UN Security Council resolutions. They added that Iran’s backing of the Houthis constituted a dangerous pattern of escalation that risked undermining international trade and creating global instability.

The latest escalation in the Arab region’s most impoverished nation follows a period of relative calm that had largely held since the UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022 between the Iran-aligned group and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.