G7 urges Iran to stop arming Yemen’s Houthis

G7 foreign ministers have demanded that Iran end its support for Yemen’s Houthis and condemned the group’s escalating attacks on Saudi Arabia and civilian shipping, warning that the violence threatens international trade and global energy security.

The ministers from the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States issued the joint statement after an informal meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where senior Iranian officials are due to speak.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the unacceptable continued strikes carried out by the Houthis in Yemen and against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the ministers said. They called 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 also urged Iran to “end its arming of and support” for the Houthis. Al Jazeera reported that the ministers said Tehran’s support violated past UN Security Council resolutions. The G7 said the Houthis’ actions were part of “a dangerous pattern of escalation that risks further exacerbating the conflict, undermining international trade and creating global economic instability.”

The warning follows a sharp increase in fighting along Yemen’s Red Sea coast. The Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, recently seized territory near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a narrow maritime chokepoint linking the southern Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean. The BBC reported that the group took control of Bab al-Mandab earlier this month.

The United Nations estimates that more than 120,000 Yemenis have been displaced by the surge in fighting. Thousands have fled in recent days after the Houthis advanced along the coast, including near the key shipping route.

Saudi Arabia backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government and has retaliated with hundreds of air strikes in the region, according to the BBC. At least six people were killed in Saudi strikes on the strategic Yemeni city of Mokha, AFP reported, citing Houthi-affiliated media. Two children and a woman were among the dead, and eight others were injured. The Houthis seized Mokha from pro-government forces earlier this month. Saudi Arabia has not commented on the reported strikes.

The Houthis have launched hundreds of drones and missiles at cities and infrastructure in south-western Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh, the BBC reported. The group says it is part of the Iranian-led “axis of resistance” against Israel, the United States and the wider West, alongside armed groups including Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement.

The latest escalation comes after a period of relative calm that had largely held since a UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022 between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, Al Jazeera reported.

The G7 ministers said they would “continue to support the legitimate Government of Yemen” and reaffirmed their “strong commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Yemen.”

The BBC reported that Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the UK would provide “defensive air-to-air refuelling” support for Saudi Arabia using a single British Voyager aircraft based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Burnham said the move followed a Saudi request for “military support” and was approved on the advice of Defence Secretary Wes Streeting and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband.

A diplomatic source told AFP that France had also pledged support and was ready to help secure Saudi energy infrastructure through a “strictly defensive approach.” US media reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had requested military support from President Donald Trump, while The New York Times reported that Trump had wavered for weeks over whether to act on the request.

Tehran has previously denied supplying weapons to the Houthis and says it supports them only politically.