Yemen: Houthis threaten Saudi-led coalition with pain should war continue

President of the Supreme Political Council of Yemen Houthis, Mahdi Al-Mashat, has threatened the Arab alliance led by Saudi Arabia with more pain if the coalition blocks a peace deal that could end the four-year war in the country.

“If they [the coalition member states] are determined to close all windows of peace, they will face the harshest and most painful choices that we have not used until now,” he warned in an interview with Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper yesterday, adding that “when the attack stops, the defence will stop”.

READ: US says Houthis reneging on Yemen peace deal

“We are exercising our natural right to defend our people and our land, and we are fighting for our freedom, sovereignty, independence, security, and stability of our country,” he added.

Al-Mashat said now is the time for peace, warning that continuing the war will never be in the coalition’s interest. However, the Yemeni official expected the country to enter a new chapter of war.

In December, the Yemeni government and the Houthis reached an agreement in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, that includes exchanging prisoners detained on both sides and consolidating a ceasefire in the strategic city of Hudaydah, however, the agreement has not yet been implemented.

Deaths in Yemen Conflict – Cartoon [Sarwar Ahmed/MiddleEastMonitor]