Yemen’s Houthi-run Foreign Ministry says UN should not shield espionage activities
Houthi officials have called for raids on United Nations premises, accusing the United Nations and prejudice spy staff.
The Yemen’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the legal immunities of United Nations should not protect spy activities, a few days after at least 18 UN staff were detained in the Sanaa capital.
The UN said on Sunday that the Houthi rebels had descended in its premises in Sanaa and had held the United Nations staff following an Israeli strike who killed the Prime Minister of the Government led by the Houthis and several other ministers.
Before the weekend raids, the Houthis already owned 23 UN staff members, some since 2021. Another member of the UN staff died while he was in police custody in February.
“Until now, UNICEF and WFP offices (World Food Program) remain under the control of the Houthi,” said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained again.
He said that the Houthis also penetrated the United Nations Development Program complex.
People stand outside a service station one day after being struck by Israeli air strikes in Sanaa, Yemen, August 25, 2025. (Credit: Strunger / Reuters)
Several UN complexes have been infiltrated
“We reiterate that the security and safety of the staff and the UN goods must be guaranteed and that the inviolability of the UN premises must be respected at any time,” he said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs led by the Houthis also accused the UN of bias, claiming that it had condemned “legal measures taken by the government against the spy cells involved in crimes”, but did not denounce the Israeli attack, the Houthi news agency managed by Houthi reported on Wednesday.
Yemen was divided between a Houthi administration in Sanaa and a government supported by Saudi in Aden since the Houthis aligned by Iran seized Sanaa at the end of 2014, triggering a conflict of a decade.
The ministry added that Yemen respected “the 1946 Convention on United Nations privileges and immunities … while stressing that these immunities do not protect spy activities or those who are committed to it, or provide them with legal coverage,” he added.
