Foreign Minister Afrah al-Zouba discusses Red Sea security with Spain’s ambassador
Yemen Herald News 
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Yemen’s foreign minister discussed Red Sea shipping security and bilateral cooperation with Spain’s non-resident ambassador in Riyadh on Sunday, the state news agency Saba reported.
Afrah al-Zouba met Javier Carbajosa, the non-resident ambassador of Spain to Yemen. Saba said the two reviewed bilateral relations and areas of cooperation.
Al-Zouba thanked the Spanish government for what she described as its supportive stance towards Yemen, according to the agency. She said she looked forward to expanding cooperation between the two countries.
The minister briefed Carbajosa on developments in Yemen amid what the government calls a Houthi escalation on the western coast, Saba reported. She said the escalation threatens navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab strait, and the trade that moves through them.
The Houthi authorities in Sanaa reject that account. They describe their maritime campaign as pressure on Israel over the war in Gaza and deny attacking commercial shipping indiscriminately.
The talks also covered smuggling and organised crime, and what the ministry described as links between the Houthi movement and extremist groups, Saba said. The Houthis deny any such links.
Carbajosa reiterated Madrid’s support for the Presidential Leadership Council headed by Rashad al-Alimi and for the Yemeni government, the agency reported. He affirmed support for Yemen’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The account of the meeting rests on Saba, which is run by the internationally recognised government. No independent confirmation of what was said has been published, and Yemen Herald could not verify the exchanges separately.
The meeting fell during the heaviest fighting in Yemen since the United Nations brokered a truce in April 2022. The two sides have not held direct political talks since the world body announced a roadmap commitment in December 2023.
Houthi forces launched simultaneous ground assaults in southern Hodeidah and in three districts west of Taiz on Thursday, seizing positions in Jabal Habashi district, according to Al Jazeera and Arab News. The National reported that government forces counted 14 ballistic missiles fired at rural areas of the two governorates.
Government troops recaptured a hilltop in Jabal Habashi the following day, Arab News reported. Al Jazeera reported that Houthi units have been pressing to cut off the government-held port of Mokha and to move towards ground bordering Bab al-Mandab.
At least four civilians were killed and nine wounded in a missile strike on the Heijah al-Abd road south of Taiz on Saturday, Al Jazeera and The National reported. Both outlets attributed the attack to Houthi forces.
Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy for Yemen, called the escalation extremely alarming and warned that it risked widening the conflict, his office said. He urged the parties to halt hostilities and to use the Military Coordination Committee.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said nearly 1,800 families fled in less than 48 hours and that several displacement camps in Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi emptied under shelling. It said emergency stocks were severely depleted.
The April 2022 truce formally lapsed that October. Front lines stayed largely static until this year, when fighting resumed on the western fronts.
Mokha sits on Yemen’s Red Sea coast and is held by the National Resistance Forces led by Tareq Saleh. It handles commercial traffic for government-held areas.
Houthi forces began attacking merchant shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in November 2023, starting with the seizure of the car carrier Galaxy Leader. Much of the traffic that had used the Suez Canal shifted to the longer route around southern Africa.
The European Union launched Operation Aspides in February 2024 to escort merchant vessels through the corridor. The Council of the European Union has extended the operation into 2027 and allocated 15 million euros to it.
Bab al-Mandab separates Yemen from Djibouti and Eritrea and links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Shipping bound for the Suez Canal from the Indian Ocean passes through it.
The Presidential Leadership Council was formed in April 2022, when Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi transferred his powers to the eight-member body. Al-Alimi chairs it. The council is seated in Aden, and parts of the government work from Riyadh.
Spain has no resident embassy in Yemen. Several European states accredit ambassadors to the country on a non-resident basis, a practice that followed the closure of most missions in Sanaa in 2015.
Al-Zouba has held a run of meetings with foreign envoys. Saba reported that she met South Africa’s non-resident ambassador, Mogobo David Mogabi, on the same Sunday, and that on Monday she discussed developments in Yemen with the secretary-general of the Arab League.
On 2 September the agency reported that she met Kuwait’s foreign minister and discussed resuming financing from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development.
The United Nations humanitarian plan for 2026 puts the number of people needing assistance in Yemen at more than 22 million, of whom 18.3 million are acutely food insecure. It records more than 2.2 million children under five as acutely malnourished, including 516,157 severe cases.
The plan counts 5.2 million people displaced inside the country and seeks 2.16 billion dollars to reach 12 million of them.
Saba did not say whether the two sides set a date for further contacts.
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