Houthis hold Saudi Arabia responsible for Sanaa airport attack VIDEO/UPDATED

Yemen's Houthi movement, Ansar Allah, has blamed Saudi Arabia for strikes on Sanaa airport and announced the end of the de-escalation period.

Yahya Saree, spokesman for the armed forces formed by the group, said Riyadh "must bear responsibility for the consequences" of the attack, stressing that the actions "will not go unanswered," Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

Earlier, Yemen's Ministry of Defence said it had targeted the runway of Sanaa airport to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing.

The ministry stated that the Houthis had barred Yemen's national airline from using the capital's airport while at the same time insisting that "the Iranian aircraft" enter Yemeni territory.

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Air strikes have hit the international airport in Sanaa, the Houthi-held capital of Yemen, said the rebels and the country's exiled government.

The Ministry of Defence of Yemen's internationally recognised government said it attacked the runway to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing on Yemeni soil, SABA reports.

The Iran-backed Houthis took over the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting intervention by a Saudi-led coalition the following year, at the request of the internationally recognised government.

"The Houthi terrorist militias, supported by the Iranian regime, prevented Yemeni national aircraft from landing at the capital's airport, Sanaa, and insisted that the Iranian aircraft violate Yemeni airspace. Therefore, the airport runway was targeted," the ministry said in a statement.

Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree, in a statement, accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out July 13 strikes.

The group added that the attacks ended the de-escalation phase, and it said that Saudi Arabia "must bear the consequences of its aggression". There was no immediate comment from the Saudi-led coalition.

Last week, Yemen's government said its forces repelled a Houthi assault south of the port city of Hodeidah, claiming they inflicted heavy casualties on the Iran-backed group in the most violent clashes in years.

Although a UN-brokered truce in 2022 significantly reduced large-scale fighting, sporadic clashes have continued.

The latest confrontation comes after the Houthis renewed threats to target airports and other key infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen's internationally recognised government.

By Vafa Guliyeva