DOHA
A Saudi-led coalition against Yemen's Shiite Houthi movement on Wednesday asserted its right to respond to any "aggression" committed against the people of Yemen.
Coalition spokesman Ahmed al-Asiri also asserted the coalition's right to respond to any attempt to resupply Houthi militias.
Al-Asiri's remarks came hard on the heels of reports that Iran had dispatched warships to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to protect Iran's commercial and strategic interests.
International waters, al-Asiri said, remained open to all states, including the Islamic republic.
He stressed, however, that Yemen's territorial waters remained under the coalition's control.
"No hostile actions have been taken against us so far," al-Asiri said.
He noted that Iran had not submitted a request to the coalition's command to evacuate its nationals from Yemen.
Al-Asiri went on to assert that most Iranians in Yemen were there to support and train Houthi militias.
Since March 25, warplanes from states participating in the Saudi-led campaign have pounded Houthi positions across the crisis-hit country.
Fractious Yemen has remained in turmoil since last September, when the Houthis overran capital Sanaa, from which they have sought to extend their influence to other parts of the country.
Riyadh says the campaign comes in response to appeals by embattled Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi – who is currently in Saudi Arabia – to "save the [Yemeni] people from the Houthi militias."
The Houthis, for their part, have decried the offensive, describing it as unwarranted "Saudi-American aggression" against Yemen.
Some Gulf States accuse Shiite Iran of supporting Yemen's Houthi insurgency.
