Iran urges Saudi Arabia to pursue diplomacy after Houthis escalate attacks

Iran has urged rival Saudi Arabia to pursue a diplomatic solution to its escalating conflict with the Houthi armed group in Yemen, warning that continued military action would only worsen the situation.

“Insisting on a military approach and disregarding a political solution would only further complicate the situation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan during a telephone call on Sunday, according to a statement from Tehran.

The Saudi state news agency reported that the two ministers discussed the recent escalation in violence in the region after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God), launched deadly air attacks on Saudi airports.

In a post on Telegram on Sunday, Araghchi emphasised that insisting on a military approach while disregarding political solutions would further complicate the situation. The Iranian minister said the region’s crises have no military solutions.

Araghchi said Iran is ready to provide any assistance necessary to facilitate the start of dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Yemen and to help achieve a political solution.

In a media briefing on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaiel Baghaei also stressed that Tehran was open to resolving the conflict through dialogue.

“We do not want hostilities to continue between two Muslim countries, especially as the region is already facing tensions caused by the United States and Israel” Baghaei said.

“We have consistently stressed that the people of Yemen have the right to live with dignity, free from pressure, sanctions and blockade” Baghaei added, emphasising Iran’s “readiness to help resolve the issue through dialogue.”

Military defence and maritime analyst Alexandru Hudisteanu told Al Jazeera that Iran’s offer to mediate talks to end strikes on Saudi Arabia adds to evidence that Houthi attacks on the Kingdom are coordinated with Tehran.

“I think that while a week ago, we were wondering whether there is any strict coordination between the Houthis’ action in Saudi Arabia with Iran, especially in the maritime aspects with an uptick of attacks on shipping, right now, it is hard to think that that coordination does not exist,” Hudisteanu said.

“There is a high probability that Iran is behind these particular set of attacks,” Hudisteanu said, adding that the attacks on Saudi Arabia were a “core reflection of how Iran sees the region, where Iran wants to be a power broker and will instrument its proxies.”

Following an attack on the Riyadh airport that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300 others on Saturday, US President Donald Trump said he would reconsider the role of the United States in Yemen, adding that he was also weighing resuming strikes on Iran.

The remarks represent a departure from the president’s comments on Thursday that Washington will not resume strikes on Iran until after the US midterm elections early next month.

Iranian and Saudi diplomatic ties have endured despite longstanding friction, with embassies restored under a 2023 Chinese-brokered agreement remaining operational. Before that breakthrough, a seven-year diplomatic rupture had fuelled regional proxy conflicts.

Riyadh’s relationship with Tehran has deteriorated since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran began in late February. Following the attacks, Tehran and its aligned forces have struck US military assets and energy infrastructure across the Gulf region, including oil fields in Saudi Arabia.

In March, Prince Faisal warned Iran that tolerance of its attacks on Saudi Arabia and those of neighbouring Gulf states was limited, calling on Tehran to “recalculate” its strategy.