DOMINANT ANGLE
Riyadhh welcomes the G7 statement as diplomatic validation, but is particularly aware of the US military silence and the test that Bab al-Mandeb poses to its reconciliation with Tehran.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
The G7 (United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United States) on Monday, September 21, condemned "in the strongest terms" the Houthi strikes against Saudi Arabia and called on Iran to stop arming them, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.
- 02
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric reiterated the condemnation of the Houthi cross-border attacks against the Kingdom, "including the attempt to target Riyadh", according to the Saudi Gazette.
- 03
Houthi military sources quoted by AFP claim that experts from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps supervised the digging of tunnels and discussed radar near Bab al-Mandeb, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.
ANALYSIS
Riyadh, September 22, 2026. Saudi media is focusing on diplomacy: on Monday, September 21, the foreign ministers of the G7 — the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States — issued a statement on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, condemning "in the strongest terms" the Houthi attacks against Yemen and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to Asharq Al-Awsat. The statement urges the Houthis to immediately cease all military action, threats, and attacks against civilian transport, and to return to the political process, while also calling on Iran to end its arming of the movement, described as an escalation trajectory threatening international trade.
On the same day, the UN once again condemned the Houthi cross-border attacks against the Kingdom, "including the attempt to target Riyadh," said spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, also citing strikes against civilians and energy infrastructure elsewhere in the country, according to the Saudi Gazette. He called on all parties to exercise restraint in the face of a worrying military escalation around Taiz, Lahj, and Marib.
On the ground, Yemeni government forces recaptured Mount Numan, west of Taiz, on Sunday, September 20, after clashes with the Houthis, who had conquered Hays, al-Khokha, and Mokha about ten days earlier before advancing towards Bab al-Mandeb and the island of Mayyun, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.
In the background, another article in the same Saudi publication questions the solidity of the 2023 Beijing agreement between Riyadh and Tehran: Houthi military sources cited by AFP claim that experts from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps supervised the digging of tunnels near Mokha and discussed the installation of radar on the island of Zuqar, in the southern Red Sea. For Gulf Research Center President Abdulaziz bin Sager, the issue goes beyond the bilateral relationship: it is the agreement's ability to prevent armed groups from being used as a regional pressure lever that is being tested.
This set of information — the G7 statement, UN condemnation, government forces' advance, and doubts about Iranian commitment — outlines, in the Saudi press, a diplomatic front organizing itself around Riyadh without Washington engaging militarily, unlike London.
