Arab Gulf Foreign Ministers Back Saudi Arabia Against Houthi Attacks

The Gulf Cooperation Council, after a foreign ministers' meeting in Manama, Bahrain, condemned repeated Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia in a statement issued on Sunday, October 18, 2026 (26 Mehr 1405). The statement says an attack on any member affects all six: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The ministers also called for tighter enforcement of the UN arms embargo on the group and for countries to formally designate it a "terrorist organisation", and welcomed an October 15 UN Security Council statement about strikes on Saudi Arabia and threats to Red Sea shipping.\n\nThe Saudi-led coalition said it shot down two drones near Riyadh and in the Eastern Province on Sunday. According to the International Organization for Migration, fighting in Yemen has displaced more than 233,000 people, about 121,000 of them in Taiz province.