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 Riyadh's rival Iran denounced the assault on the Houthi militia
group, which it backs, and made clear the kingdom's deployment of a
Sunni coalition against Shi'ite enemies would complicate efforts to
end a conflict likely to inflame the sectarian animosities fuelling
wars around the Middle East.
Warplanes bombed the main airport and the nearby al Dulaimi military
air base of the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, residents said, in an
apparent attempt to weaken the Houthis' air power and ability to
fire missiles.
A Reuters witness in the capital said four or five houses near Sanaa
airport had been damaged. Rescue workers put the death toll from the
air strikes at 13, including a doctor who had been pulled from the
rubble of a damaged clinic.
Yemen's crisis now risks spiraling into a major war with Iran
backing the Houthis, and Sunni Muslim monarchies in the Gulf
supporting Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his fellow
Sunni loyalists in Yemen's south.
 "We will do whatever it takes in order to protect the legitimate
government of Yemen from falling," Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the
United States, Adel al-Jubeir, told a news conference in Washington.
In Aden, a local official reported that fighters loyal to Hadi
retook the airport, a day after it was captured by forces allied to
the Houthis advancing on the city. The facility remains closed and
flights are canceled.
Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV reported that the kingdom was contributing
100 warplanes to the operation - dubbed "Storm of Resolve" - and
more than 85 more were provided by the United Arab Emirates, Qatar,
Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan.
Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and Pakistan were ready to take part in a
ground offensive in Yemen, the channel said.
A Saudi official familiar with defense matters told Reuters that a
"land offensive might be needed to restore order."
Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday demanded an immediate
halt to the "aggression and air strikes" in Yemen, the semi-official
Fars news agency reported on Thursday.
"Military actions in Yemen, which faces a domestic crisis ... will
further complicate the situation," Fars quoted Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham as saying.
A United Arab Emirates official expressed Gulf Arab concerns about
Iranian influence in Yemen.
"The strategic change in the region benefits Iran and we cannot be
silent about the fact that the Houthis carry their banner," UAE
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Mohammed Gargash wrote
on Twitter.
The other Arab countries along with Pakistan reported to be willing
to take part in the operation are also mostly Sunni.
Saud al-Sarhan, director of research at King Faisal Center for
Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh: “It is a clear message on
the ‘Saudi defense doctrine’. Security and stability in the Arabian
Peninsula is a red line, and Saudi Arabia doesn’t tolerate any
attempt to destabilize the region."
PRESIDENT "IN HIGH SPIRITS"
Yemen's slide towards civil war has made it a crucial front in Saudi
Arabia's rivalry with Tehran, which Riyadh accuses of stirring up
sectarian strife throughout the region and in Yemen with its support
for the Houthis. Iran publicly denies funding and training the
Houthis.
Fighting has spread across Yemen since last September, when the
Houthis seized Sanaa and began to fan out across the country,
forcing Hadi out of the capital.
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Ambassador Jubeir said the assaults had been launched in response to
a direct request by Hadi, who supported Washington's campaign of
drone strikes against al Qaeda's Yemen branch.
The White House said the United States supported the operation, led
by the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and that President
Barack Obama had authorized U.S. "logistical and intelligence
support".
U.S. forces were not involved in direct military action in Yemen, a
National Security Council spokeswoman said.
The Saudi-led strikes in Yemen coincided with an escalation of
American involvement in Iraq, where U.S. planes carried out air
strikes to support the drive to oust Islamic State militants from
Tikrit.
HOLED UP
Hadi has been holed up Aden with loyalist forces since he fled
Houthi custody in February.
One of his aides said Hadi remains in the city was "in high spirits"
since the operation began. An Aden official later said Hadi
loyalists had retaken the southern city's airport after heavy
clashes.
A senior leader of Yemen's Houthi movement said the Saudi air
strikes amounted to aggression against his country and warned they
would set off a "wide war" in the region.
Houthi-run al-Masirah television reported that the Saudi-led air
strikes had hit a residential neighborhood north of Sanaa and caused
dozens of casualties. It also urged medical personnel to report to
hospitals in Sanaa immediately.
Al-Masirah footage showed the body of a girl and several of the
wounded, including an unidentified man who wept as he said the air
strikes had killed his son and destroyed his home.
It interviewed one witness who said: "We tell Saudi Arabia, don't
you have enough with what's happening in Syria and Iraq. You want to
do the same in Yemen? Why are you hitting Yemeni civilians, women
and children."
No independent verification of any casualties was immediately
possible.
A widening Yemen conflict could also pose risks for global oil
supplies, and Brent crude oil prices surged more than 4 percent on
Thursday.
Most oil tankers from Arab producers such as Saudi Arabia, the
United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq have to pass Yemen's
coastlines via the narrow Gulf of Aden in order to get through the
Red Sea and Suez Canal to Europe.
(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Phil Stewart, Patricia
Zengerle, Yeganeh Torbati and Sandra Mahle in WASHINGTON, Michelle
Nichols at the UNITED NATIONS, Mohammed Mukhashaf in ADEN, Mohammed
Ghobari and Noah Browning in DUBAI and Osamu Tsukimori in TOKYO;
Writing by Noah Browning and William Maclean; Editing by Giles
Elgood)
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