Houthi officers referred to as for raids on United Nations premises, accusing UN personnel of espionage and bias.
Yemen’s Houthi-run Overseas Ministry mentioned United Nations officers’ authorized immunities mustn’t defend espionage actions, days after not less than 18 UN personnel had been detained within the capital Sanaa.
The UN mentioned on Sunday that Houthi rebels raided its premises in Sanaa and detained UN employees, following an Israeli strike that killed the prime minister of the Houthi-run authorities and several other different ministers.
Earlier than the weekend raids the Houthis had been already holding 23 UN personnel, some since 2021. One other UN employees member died whereas in Houthi custody in February.
“Thus far, the UNICEF and WFP (World Meals Programme) workplaces stay underneath the Houthi management,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric mentioned on Wednesday, once more calling for the speedy and unconditional launch of all these detained.
He mentioned the Houthis had additionally damaged into the UN Improvement Programme complicated.
Individuals stand exterior a gas station someday after it was hit by Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, August 25, 2025. (credit score: Stringer/Reuters)
A number of UN complexes have been infiltrated
“We reiterate that the protection and safety of UN personnel and property should be assured and that the inviolability of UN premises should be revered always,” he mentioned.
The Houthi-run Overseas Ministry additionally accused the UN of bias, saying it had condemned “authorized measures taken by the federal government in opposition to spy cells concerned in crimes,” however didn’t denounce the Israeli assault, the Houthi-run information company Saba reported on Wednesday.
Yemen has been cut up between a Houthi administration in Sanaa and a Saudi-backed authorities in Aden for the reason that Iran-aligned Houthis seized Sanaa in late 2014, triggering a decade-long battle.
The ministry added that Yemen revered “the 1946 Conference on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations … whereas emphasizing that these immunities don’t shield espionage actions or those that have interaction in them, nor present them with authorized cowl,” it added.
