Saudi Arabia has launched military operations in Yemen, as part of a coalition of over ten countries in response to a direct request from the legitimate government of Yemen, Saudi Ambassador to the United States Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir announced at a press conference at the embassy in Washington this evening.

“The operation,” Ambassador Al-Jubeir said, “will be limited in nature, and designed to protect the people of Yemen and its legitimate government from a takeover by the Houthis. A violent extremist militia.”

The ambassador added that “in spite of repeated efforts by the GCC, G10 countries and the Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary General to seek a peaceful way to implement the GCC initiatives and the outcomes of the national dialogue that define the political transition in Yemen, the Houthis have reneged on every single agreement they have made and continue their quest to take over the country by violent means. They captured the capital city of Sana’a, they placed the legitimate president, prime minister and cabinet members under house arrest, they seized the security services and they continue to expand their occupation of the country.”

Al-Jubeir said that in letter dated March 7, 2015, President Hadi of Yemen made a request of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz to convene a conference under the auspices of the GCC to which all Yemeni political factions seeking to preserve security and stability in Yemen would be invited. “The Houthis rejected this invitation and continued their violent onslaught in Yemen to the point where they were threatening to occupy the city of Aden, which had become the temporary capital for the legitimate government of President Hadi after he was able to escape from Sana’a. In a letter, dated March 24, 2015, President Hadi requested, based on the principle of self-defense, enshrined in Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, as well as in the Arab League charter’s collective defense mechanism, a request for immediate support – by all means necessary – including military intervention to protect Yemen and its people from the continued Houthi aggression and to support it in fighting al Qaeda and ISIL.”

Based on the appeal from President Hadi, and based on the Kingdom’s responsibility to Yemen and its people, Saudi Arabia, “along with its allies within the GCC and outside the GCC, launched military operations in support of the people of Yemen and their legitimate government.”

“May God Almighty protect the brave soldiers and may He grant them success in their noble mission,” Al-Jubeir said.