Yemeni minister calls for arrest of Houthi officials attending Hezbollah chief funeral

Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani called on Wednesday for the arrest of a group of leaders from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis who he said will attend Lebanese Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah's funeral in Beirut.

Nasrallah, who had served as Hezbollah's secretary-general for more than 30 years, was killed on Sept. 27 as Israel ramped up its attacks on southern Lebanon. His funeral is scheduled for Feb. 23.

Eryani demanded that the Lebanese government arrest the Houthi leaders and hand them over to the rival internationally recognized government in a post on X.

He did not name the Houthi officials.

Neither the Lebanese government nor Houthi leaders was immediately available for comment.

The Houthis did not officially announce a delegation was attending the funeral, but the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported a delegation from Yemen would participate. "We affirm that the movement of these terrorist leaders... in this timing is not a mere participation in the funeral, which is being used as a cover, to gather all the leaders of the Iranian axis and assess the situation after the blows they received," he added.

The Yemeni minister was referring to the recent Israeli attacks against Iran-backed groups in the region including Hezbollah and the Houthis.

Both groups launched parallel attacks against Israel during its war in Gaza to show support for Palestinians.

The Houthis, who control northern Yemen, also carried out more than 100 attacks on ships off the shores of Yemen since November 2023, disrupting global shipping and causing route changes and losses.