Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Monday announced a maritime embargo of their foe Saudi Arabia, raising the stakes in their conflict after the pair traded fire last week for the first time in years.

The Iran-backed terror group declared “a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye,’ effective immediately upon the issuance of this statement,” military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a video statement.

He said the move was in response to Saudi Arabia’s blockade of Houthi “ports and airports” and the targeting of Sanaa airport last week, adding that they would respond to “the blockade with a blockade.”

“Any foolish act committed by the reckless Saudi enemy through all escalation will be met with a comprehensive and decisive escalation,” Saree added.

Last week, hostilities flared in Yemen’s long-dormant internal conflict as Iran, through its Houthi ally, appeared to challenge Saudi Arabia’s hegemony over Yemeni skies.

The Houthis fired missiles at an airport in the southern Saudi Arabian city of Abha last Monday, after the Yemeni government said it hit Sanaa airport to block a flight from Iran carrying a Houthi delegation. The Houthis have blamed the attack on Riyadh, which backs Yemen’s recognized government.

For more than a decade, aircraft entering Yemeni airspace have needed prior clearance from the Saudi-led........

© The Times of Israel