TEHRAN – The Yemeni Armed Forces announced the successful execution of a large-scale offensive targeting critical Saudi economic and military installations. 

This came in direct retaliation for a “brutal and unjust” three-day Saudi aerial campaign against civilian-populated areas across Yemen.

In a statement broadcast on national television, a spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF), Brigadier General Yahya Saree, detailed that dozens of ballistic missiles and combat drones struck the Aramco facilities in Abha, Najran, and Jizan. They also targeted the Economic City and the King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait. 

The strikes, he said, were “accurate and direct, by the grace of Allah,” and inflicted substantial damage on these strategic assets. The operation, code-named “Siege for Siege,” was presented as a proportionate and lawful response to Saudi Arabia’s intensifying aggression against the Yemeni people.

The YAF statement opened with a stark reminder that the Yemeni nation has endured twelve years of foreign military intervention and a crippling blockade imposed by the “Saudi enemy”. 

Over the past 72 hours, the Saudi air force has launched more than 120 airstrikes across five governorates: Marib, Al-Bayda, Hodeidah, Taiz, and Al-Jawf. The Sana’a government emphasized that these air raids marked a “major and comprehensive escalation” designed to break the will of the Yemeni people and serve the interests of the American and Israeli regimes.

The most heinous of these attacks, according to the statement, was the bombardment of the Central Prison in Al-Hazm, capital of Al-Jawf province. That strike claimed the lives of a large number of inmates, including women and children who were visiting their detained relatives. 

The YAF denounced the prison bombing as a war crime and a clear violation of international humanitarian law. They accused Riyadh of deliberately targeting non-combatants in a desperate attempt to demoralize the population.

“This is not a war against armed forces,” the statement read. “This is a war against our very existence, against our homes, our prisons, our children. The Saudi enemy seeks to occupy our country and exterminate our people, all while hiding behind the pretext of fighting terrorism. But the world knows the truth: they are the terrorists.”

Faced with this unprovoked escalation, the YAF declared that it would meet aggression with greater aggression. The missile and drone salvo against Saudi Aramco facilities and the Khamis Mushait airbase was underlined as only the opening act of a sustained campaign. 

Saree pointed out that the targets were chosen for their strategic and economic significance to the Saudi war machine. These are oil installations that fuel the “enemy’s” military logistics, and airbases from which the bombing sorties are launched.

“Every attack against our country and our people will be met with a decisive response,” the YAF pledged. “We will not hesitate to launch stronger and broader strikes against the criminal Saudi enemy, God willing. We have the means, the resolve, and the divine support to carry this fight to the very heart of the aggressor’s land.”

The Sanaa government also issued a direct warning to the Saudi leadership. All military mobilizations, troop movements, and aerial operations will not intimidate Yemen, the “land of Islam and Arabism.” Nor will they weaken the resolve of its faithful, freedom-loving people. Instead, the statement asserted, such brutality only steels the nation’s determination to confront every act of aggression.

Central to the YAF’s message was the reaffirmation of the “blockade for blockade” equation. Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has imposed a comprehensive air, sea, and land blockade on Yemen, strangling its economy and depriving millions of essential goods, medicine, and fuel. 

The YAF declared that they would continue to target Saudi depth, both economic infrastructure and military staging points, until the siege on Yemen is lifted and all foreign forces withdraw from its territory.

“Our people stand on the side of truth, while our enemy stands on the side of falsehood,” the statement concluded. “And indeed, falsehood is destined to perish. We are a people of faith and wisdom; we do not start wars, but we do not shy away from finishing them. The Saudi regime, backed by its American and Israeli patrons, thought it could crush us with bombs and hunger. Today, they are learning that the Yemeni spirit is unbreakable.”

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Supreme Political Council strongly condemned the targeting of the detention center in the city of Al Hazm, Jawf province, holding Saudi Arabia fully responsible for the attack and its consequences. 

It said that “targeting detainees and civilians constitutes a dangerous escalation and a violation of international humanitarian law.”

The council said that “the Saudi escalation was not limited to the detention facility, but coincided with attacks on civilian homes in several Yemeni provinces,” stressing that “these attacks will not go unanswered or unpunished.”

The council stressed that it would not stand idly by in the face of the continued escalation, affirming its right to defend its people, sovereignty, and interests. It warned that continuing along this course would push the situation into a new phase for which Saudi Arabia would bear responsibility for the resulting consequences and repercussions.

The council called on the United Nations, the Security Council, and relevant international organizations to immediately and explicitly condemn the attack on the correctional facility and take a position on “the continued silence over crimes committed against the Yemeni people.”

Earlier, Saudi forces launched attacks on Yemen’s Al Jawf, Al Bayda, Ma’rib, and Taiz provinces, carrying out a number of airstrikes and cruise missile attacks, according to the Saba news agency in Sanaa.

The latest exchange marks one of the most significant escalations since the collapse of UN-brokered ceasefire talks earlier this year. The Sanaa government has repeatedly accused Saudi Arabia of exploiting the diplomatic lull to intensify its bombing campaigns. 

However, with the YAF demonstrating the capability to strike multiple high-value targets simultaneously deep inside Saudi territory, the military balance has shifted. The regular strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities, the kingdom’s economic lifeline, carry particular weight and have raised global oil prices. They signal that the YAF forces are prepared to inflict direct financial pain on their adversary.

International observers have expressed concern over the widening scope of the Saudi-initiated conflict, but the YAF remain unyielding. As their statement made clear, they view this as a war of existence, one in which every act of Saudi brutality will be met with an equal or greater response. Sanaa has voted that will continue until the aggression ceases and the deadly blockade on Yemen is lifted.