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Posted Mon 15 Jun 2026Yemen: Briefing and Consultations
Tomorrow morning (16 June), the Security Council will hold a briefing on Yemen. UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher are expected to brief. Closed consultations are scheduled to follow the open briefing.
The Houthis’ continued involvement in the Middle East crisis, which began with US-Israeli strikes against Iran on 28 February, is expected to feature prominently in the discussion at tomorrow’s meeting. The Houthis, a Yemeni rebel group that de facto controls northern Yemen and is part of the Iran-allied “Axis of Resistance”, have launched multiple attacks against Israel since the beginning of the regional war. Following the 7 April announcement of a ceasefire between Iran and the US, the group paused its strikes against Israel. On 8 June, however, it resumed attacks. It fired several missiles at Israel, which the Houthis said were a response to the country’s continued assaults against Palestinians and violations of its ceasefire agreement with Lebanon. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reportedly said that it had intercepted one of the missiles, while the second failed to reach Israeli territory. Furthermore, on 9 June, the IDF reported that it had intercepted a Houthi-launched drone over the southern Israeli city of Eilat.
The Houthis have also threatened to resume targeting Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea, which the group had paused following the Gaza ceasefire agreement in October 2025. (Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, the group has attacked several commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, including some that were not directly affiliated with Israel.) Additionally, on 9 June, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, said that the Axis of Resistance will establish a new “security belt” extending from the Strait of Hormuz to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. This vital shipping waterway connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. At the time of writing, it was unclear whether the Houthis would refrain from further attacks against Israel or threats to maritime security following yesterday’s (14 June) announcement of a new ceasefire deal between the US and Iran.
Tomorrow, speakers are likely to raise concerns regarding the Houthis’ re-involvement in the Middle East crisis and their threats to resume attacks against shipping in the region. Several Council members are expected to condemn the most recent assaults targeting Israel and call on the Houthis to cease any further actions which could risk dragging Yemen into the regional conflict. Some members, such as the US, may further underline the Houthis’ alliance with Iran and criticize the latter’s support for the group. Members may also warn the Houthis against taking any actions which undermine the freedom of navigation and maritime security in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, underlining that such actions could have grave ramifications for the Yemeni people.
Fletcher and Grundberg are expected to recall that June marks two years since the Houthis arbitrarily detained several UN personnel, diplomatic staff, and aid workers, and condemn the ongoing detentions. A 10 June statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General noted that UN personnel were detained in 2025, 2024, 2023, and 2021, adding that 73 UN personnel remain detained and that one died during detention. It called for their immediate and unconditional release. It stressed that the actions of the Houthis have “severely constrained” the UN’s ability to assist millions of Yemenis in need of aid. The briefers may also voice concerns that three of the detained UN staff have been referred to the Houthis’ special criminal court and are undergoing trials which do not satisfy basic standards of due process.
Council members are likely to echo the messages conveyed in their 5 June press statement, which reiterated their condemnation of the detentions and demanded the personnel’s release. The statement also emphasized that all parties to a conflict are obliged by international humanitarian law to facilitate unhindered humanitarian access to civilians in need and “to promote the safety, security and freedom of movement” of humanitarian, UN, and associated personnel.
Grundberg is also expected to reference an agreement announced on 14 May—reached following months of negotiations held in Jordan, Switzerland, and Oman under UN auspices—through which the Yemeni government and the Houthis pledged to release over 1,600 conflict-related detainees. The negotiations were facilitated by the Supervisory Committee on the implementation of the detainee release agreement, co-chaired by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and established under the framework of the 2018 Stockholm Agreement. Grundberg is likely to elaborate on the agreement, which represents the largest detainee release since the outbreak of the Yemeni conflict, as a demonstration of what can be achieved through dialogue and negotiations under UN auspices and may express hope that it can serve as a foundation for further confidence-building between the parties.
Several Council members are expected to commend the 14 May agreement, which some may characterize as the most significant concrete achievement on the Yemen file in some time, and call on the parties to implement it swiftly and to build on it towards a broader political process. Grundberg may reiterate that such a process needs to be comprehensively focused on the political, economic, and security tracks; reflective of current realities; and must deliver on both short-term needs, such as reducing economic pressures, as well as longer-term issues, such as the future shape of the state, security arrangements, and governance. Some speakers are expected to argue that Houthi involvement in the regional escalation and the continued arbitrary detention of UN, aid, and diplomatic workers hampers progress towards a negotiated political resolution to the conflict. On the other hand, Russia may warn against isolating the Houthis and stress that the group must be part of a comprehensive settlement of the Yemeni conflict.
The Special Envoy may also brief on his recent visit to Riyadh, which concluded on 10 June. During the visit, he met with the President of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), Rashad al-Alimi and other senior officials. The discussions focused on urgent economic issues and how to advance the political process, among other things. He may also cover the most recent meeting of the Military Coordination Committee (MCC), held on the same day in Amman, which included the government of Yemen and the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen—a Saudi-led coalition established at the height of the Yemeni civil war to militarily support the Yemeni government—and which focused on “ceasefire planning, maritime security, and de-escalation steps”. The Houthis are the third party to the MCC, and the UN statement following the meeting noted that Grundberg plans to “convene all three delegations of the MCC in the coming period”.
Another issue that may be discussed at tomorrow’s meeting is the “Southern Dialogue Conference” initiative. In January, Saudi Arabia and Yemen announced plans to convene such a dialogue in Riyadh following a failed attempt by the Southern Transitional Council (STC)—a southern Yemeni faction that is a former member of the PLC—to take control of Yemen’s government-controlled southeastern governorates in December 2025. Given that there have been no further announcements regarding plans to host the conference, some Council members may ask Grundberg for updates on this initiative during the closed consultations.
The dire humanitarian situation in Yemen is another expected key area of discussion. Fletcher is likely to focus on the biggest challenges facing Yemeni civilians, including the deteriorating food security situation. He may refer to the 21 May Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) snapshot report, which said that, between March and May, around five million people—nearly half of the population in government-controlled areas—experienced Crisis (Phase 3) or worse levels of food insecurity, including 1.4 million in Emergency (Phase 4) conditions. According to the report, the outlook is expected to worsen significantly during the June-September lean season, with 5.4 million people projected to face acute food insecurity. This figure is unlikely to improve even during the harvest season, when Phase 4 conditions are projected to affect 1.8 million people.
Fletcher may underscore that sharply reduced humanitarian assistance—driven by critical funding shortfalls—is not only driving the deterioration in food security but is also affecting the health, water, sanitation, and hygiene sectors. A 2 June joint press release on Yemen issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and UNICEF warned that “[w]ithout immediate, sustained and scaled-up action, millions of vulnerable people risk falling deeper into hunger, malnutrition and irreversible livelihood loss”. Fletcher is likely to echo this message and to call on the international community to urgently scale up support.
Tags: Insights on the Middle East, Yemen
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