Iran said the Israeli airstrike that killed Houthi Prime Minister Ahmad Ghaleb al-Rahwi and several cabinet members in Sanaa would draw a response from its regional allies, calling the attack a war crime aimed at silencing Yemen’s support for Gaza.
Israel aimed to suppress Yemen’s support for Palestinians by targeting its leadership, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in a statement on Sunday.
“This crime will not weaken the Yemeni people,” the statement said. “It will fuel greater anger and broaden the front of resistance.”
“This savage crime will not weaken the determination of the Yemeni people,” the statement said. “It will ignite greater anger and expand the geography of resistance.”
The Guards described the attack as a “war crime against humanity” and said Israel carried it out “with full US support and the silence of international institutions.”
'Yemen has shaken Israel and the US'
Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said the assassination of al-Rahwi and his ministers was a sign of Israel’s failure to defeat Yemen militarily. “Yemenis have exhausted both the Zionist regime and its American patron,” he said in a message of condolence.
Ejei praised the Yemeni leadership’s support for Gaza and said that in the face of international silence, their resistance had changed the balance of power in the region.
Pezeshkian urges international response
President Masoud Pezeshkian also condemned the strike, calling it a terrorist act that highlighted “the criminal nature of the ruling clique in occupied Palestine.”
In a statement addressed to the people of Yemen and the broader Muslim world, Pezeshkian said, “The international community must act urgently to stop this regime’s lawlessness, which now poses the greatest threat to peace, justice, and humanity.”
Al-Rahwi was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Sanaa earlier this week, alongside several ministers, while they were holding a cabinet meeting. Israeli officials said the operation targeted senior Houthi political and military figures in response to attacks on Israel, including the use of cluster munitions.
The Houthis have vowed to continue their campaign against Israel and have appointed a new acting prime minister.
The group has targeted international shipping in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab, and Gulf of Aden since the Gaza war began, with some attacks reaching the Indian Ocean. The group has also launched missiles and drones at Israel, describing the strikes as support for Palestinians.
The US says it recently secured a halt to attacks on its vessels, but the Houthis say the pause does not apply to Israel and have pledged to continue those operations.
