Dubai: The Saudi-led military coalition fighting against Iran-backed Al Houthi militants in Yemen has reopened a land border crossing, a Yemeni official and witnesses told Reuters on Thursday.
The Al Wadea border crossing, linking Saudi Arabia with territory in eastern Yemen controlled by the Saudi-backed government, was reopened on Thursday, the official and witnesses said, letting food and other supplies enter Yemen.
The southern port of Aden was reopened on Wednesday.
The coalition said on Monday it would close all air, land and sea ports in Yemen to stem the flow of arms to Al Houthis from Iran.
The opening of the crossing comes amid ripe speculation of an impending offensive on the Red Sea port city of Hodeida which is controlled by the rebels.
Last week a ballistic missile launched by Al Houthis was intercepted over the Saudi capital on which Riyadh declared as ‘an act of war’.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir in an interview with CNN said that the missile was Iranian-made and came through Hodeida in pieces where it was assembled by Al Houthis with the help of Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Lebanese Hezbollah militants.
Reports in recent months have also shown that the weapons coming in are increasingly sophisticated with longer-range capabilities and cutting-edge technologies.
Because of this, Riyadh is expected to take decisive action against Iran’s smuggling of arms to their Al Houthi proxies in Yemen by neutralising the threat coming in from Hodeida.
