Japan’s foreign minister condemns Houthi strikes that killed at least 20 in Saudi Arabia
Japan’s foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi condemned recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia that killed at least 20 people and injured more than 350. He urged the Houthis to stop escalating and directly called on Iran to press the Houthis to exercise restraint during a call with Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
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What happened
Key facts
- Toshimitsu Motegi, Japan’s foreign minister, offered condolences for lives lost in recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.
- Motegi said attacks on civilians were intolerable and affirmed Japan’s condemnation of a series of strikes this month by the Iran-backed militia in Yemen.
- Those strikes have killed at least 20 people and injured more than 350, according to the report.
- Motegi "strongly called on the Houthis to immediately stop escalating the situation," Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
- Motegi "directly called on Iran to urge the Houthis to exercise restraint," according to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- The comments were made during a phone call with Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
The brief
Saudi officials have publicly described a recent series of Houthi strikes on infrastructure inside the kingdom as "full‑fledged war crimes," Arab News reported.
The outlet said the attacks have killed at least 20 people and injured more than 350, and it published images the Saudi‑led coalition showed at a press conference that it said depicted a Houthi strike on Abha International Airport earlier in October.
Arab News said Japan's foreign minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, called Prince Faisal bin Farhan to offer condolences for the lives lost in the strikes and to condemn attacks on civilians as intolerable.
Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, cited by Arab News, quoted Motegi as urging the Houthis to "immediately stop escalating the situation" and as saying he had directly called on Iran to press the Houthis to exercise restraint. The Saudi‑led coalition in Riyadh presented CCTV footage at a press briefing on Oct. 15, 2026, that it said showed the Oct.
7, 2026 strike on Abha International Airport, Arab News wrote. The outlet attributed the footage to AFPTV and said the coalition made the images available during the conference. Arab News did not provide independent verification of the coalition's description of the footage in its reporting.
Arab News also reported diplomatic responses beyond Tokyo: it said Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the Houthi attacks in a call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The outlet did not publish statements from the Houthis or from Iranian officials in the article excerpt provided.
The numbers Arab News gave — at least 20 killed and more than 350 injured — came in the same item that described the diplomatic outreach and the coalition briefing, and the piece framed those figures alongside the Saudi characterization of the strikes as war crimes.
Arab News attributed the diplomatic quotations to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and cited the coalition for the CCTV material. The account available from Arab News focuses on the Saudi government and allied diplomatic reactions and supplies casualty figures and dated references to the coalition's presentation of footage.
The article does not include independent confirmation of the footage's provenance nor a statement from the groups the Saudi government blames for the attacks.
Why it matters
- Saudi civilians and residents bore concrete harm: Arab News reported at least 20 people were killed and more than 350 injured by the strikes attributed to the Houthis.
- Japan has a documented diplomatic interest: Toshimitsu Motegi called Prince Faisal bin Farhan, offered condolences, and urged Iran to press the Houthis to exercise restraint, per Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs quoted by Arab News.
- Turkey registered a specific diplomatic stake: Arab News reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan explicitly condemned the Houthi attacks in a call with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
What to watch next
- Whether Iran publicly responds to Japan's appeal to "urge the Houthis to exercise restraint," as quoted by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Arab News.
- Whether the Saudi‑led coalition or Arab News publishes additional verification of the CCTV footage the coalition showed on Oct. 15, 2026, that it said depicted a strike on Abha International Airport on Oct. 7, 2026.
- Whether the Houthis issue a statement addressing the Saudi accusation that their strikes on civilian facilities constitute "full‑fledged war crimes."
How it's being covered
Coverage analysisShow details5 source articles · 5 unique outletsCoverage mix: Mostly Left· 2 Left · 1 CenterWhere the outlets are based: Middle East 40% · Asia 40% · Other 20%
How outlets' accounts compare
How we got here
On the immediate backdrop, Houthi forces (Ansar Allah) increased cross‑border missile and drone strikes against Saudi territory that were publicly reported throughout 2023 and 2024, with documented incidents cited by regional governments and media on specific dates during those years.
The structural roots of the legal framing invoked by Riyadh include the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols (1977), the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998) which defines war crimes, and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216 (adopted April 14, 2015) which demanded Houthi withdrawal from seized areas of Yemen and imposed an arms embargo on individuals supporting the Houthis.
Original sources
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