OMM Newsroom
Yemen’s Houthi movement could expand its attacks on Saudi Arabia to include power plants and water facilities, journalist Hussein al-Bukhaiti, who is close to the group, said in an interview with AnewZ television’s Sabir Safarov.
“At some point, we may target Saudi Arabia’s power plants, and at another point, its water facilities,” al-Bukhaiti said. He claimed that such attacks could leave Saudi residents at risk of “dying of thirst.”
The journalist said Riyadh would have to end its military operations and withdraw support for Yemeni forces fighting the Houthis to stop the attacks. He presented threats to essential services for civilians as a means of pressuring Saudi Arabia.
Al-Bukhaiti’s remarks came after a series of strikes on key Saudi facilities. He said Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport had been attacked repeatedly and that a Saudi Aramco administrative building in Dhahran was hit on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia has responded with strikes on Houthi-controlled areas, including an oil facility in Sanaa. The coalition said underground fuel depots in the area were used to store missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. The claim has not been independently verified.
The journalist, who is close to the Houthis, dismissed concerns about threats to shipping in the Red Sea, saying Yemen’s situation took precedence over other countries’ economic interests. He described concerns about the global economy as insignificant and said the movement’s main priority was Yemen’s economy.
Al-Bukhaiti also claimed the Houthis had the right to close the Red Sea to Saudi-owned vessels and said their operations targeted only Saudi ships. These claims about the movement’s actual targets have not been independently verified.
Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline carries crude from fields in the east to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast. The route serves as an alternative export corridor when shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are disrupted.
According to Agence France-Presse, which cited a source in the energy sector, the pipeline’s operations were halted again after an attack on a pumping station near Khurais in early October. Riyadh blamed groups operating in Iraq for previous attacks, while the Houthis denied responsibility for the latest incident.
Al-Bukhaiti also acknowledged in the interview that Iran supported the Houthis and that Iranian specialists helped develop weapons. He said Iranians had provided the Houthis with technical expertise and “a plan for how to build” missiles in Yemen.
According to the journalist, the Houthis learned by modifying weapons stored in depots inherited from Yemen’s former government. The movement obtains some components from abroad, including through the black market. Al-Bukhaiti defended the group’s right to acquire parts from wherever possible.
The interview did not establish the origin of specific weapons, the scale of Iranian involvement or the routes used to bring in components. The remarks came amid longstanding concerns in Western and Gulf countries that Iran is strengthening the Houthis’ missile and drone capabilities.
Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said at a news conference on Thursday that the Houthis had acquired advanced technology with the help of regional actors, but did not name them.
Al-Bukhaiti justified the Houthis’ military operations by pointing to the suffering Yemen has faced since the Saudi-led intervention in 2015. He claimed Saudi Arabia had carried out more than 200,000 airstrikes and directly killed more than 20,000 Yemeni civilians. He also said hundreds of thousands more had died from preventable diseases that he linked to the conflict and restrictions on essential supplies. These figures were not independently verified during the interview.
Attacks on water and power infrastructure can affect hospitals, sanitation systems, food distribution and homes. International humanitarian law requires parties to a conflict to distinguish between civilians and combatants, as well as civilian objects and military targets; attacks must also comply with the principles of proportionality and precautions to limit civilian harm.
Al-Bukhaiti’s remarks do not indicate that the Houthis have selected any specific water or power facility as a target. Nevertheless, the open discussion by a journalist linked to the movement of possible attacks on services essential to civilian survival is cause for concern.
Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in strengthening its image as a safe destination for international business, tourism and investment. Repeated attacks on the main airport in Riyadh and on energy facilities could affect that image, even if physical damage is limited or quickly repaired. Disruptions to flights could affect passenger and cargo transport, while threats to energy facilities could affect insurance costs, export plans and regional trade networks.
Al-Bukhaiti called on Saudi Arabia to end its military involvement in Yemen and cut support for forces fighting the Houthis in order to stop the attacks. He did not, however, put forward a formal ceasefire proposal, a framework for negotiations, a monitoring mechanism or a timetable.
Houthi threats and Saudi retaliatory strikes increase the risk that civilian infrastructure will be used as a means of pressure. Continued tensions between the parties could deepen risks for civilians in both Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
