President Al-Alimi: Restoring State Institutions Remains Top Priority Amid Houthi-Iran Alignment

  Riyadh

His Excellency President Dr. Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi, President of the Presidential Leadership Council, received today, Thursday, Mr. Hans Grundberg, the UN Special Envoy to Yemen.

During the meeting, the President was briefed by the UN envoy on the outcomes of his recent communications, particularly regarding the detainees’ file. He also discussed the prospects of building on current developments to push the Houthi militias to respond to the will of the Yemeni people and their aspirations to restore national institutions, security, stability, and peace.

The meeting also addressed local developments and progress achieved in normalizing conditions in the liberated governorates, as well as efforts to move forward with unifying the security and military decision-making structures.

In this context, the President praised the sincere efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in supporting peace pathways in Yemen and the region. In addition, he commended the Kingdom’s valued humanitarian interventions aimed at improving living conditions for the Yemeni people, supporting economic recovery, and rebuilding state institutions.

President Al-Alimi reaffirmed the Yemeni state’s commitment to a peace option based on nationally, regionally, and internationally agreed references, in a manner that ensures ending the coup and the humanitarian suffering caused by the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist militias.

He also discussed ongoing regional developments, including announced de-escalation initiatives. He stressed that they cannot be relied upon without addressing the root of the problem linked to the Iranian regime’s approach of exporting crises, threatening the sovereignty of national states, and undermining their exclusive decision-making powers through rogue groups.

The President explained that sustainable peace in the region will not be achieved unless the Iranian regime abandons its primary sources of threat. He added, notably ballistic missiles and drones, as well as its armed proxy groups used to destabilize regional security and stability.

President Al-Alimi emphasized that the continued hostile approach of the Houthi militias, their sectarian structure, and their cross-border attacks keep the objective of restoring state institutions—peacefully or by force—at the forefront of the priorities for which the Presidential Leadership Council was formed four years ago.

He further noted that the involvement of the Houthi militias in defending the Iranian regime once again provides clear evidence that they are not an independent party, but rather a destabilizing tool within the broader Iranian project.

The President expressed hope that UN reports would clearly reflect the repercussions of the militias’ continued undermining of decisions of war and peace, their involvement in the regional conflict in service of Iran, and their daily violations against civilians through various forms of repression and abuse. He stressed the importance of not overlooking the broader picture by focusing solely on the decline in large-scale escalation, while women and children continue to fall daily victim to sniper fire and internationally banned Houthi landmines.

The meeting was attended by Major General Saleh Al-Maqaleh, the Director of the Office of the President.