The confrontation, July 4 -- More than 200 wounded and ailing Yemenis were aboard the civilian Iranian aircraft that Saudi warplanes allegedly tried to stop from landing at Sanaa International Airport in the early hours of Friday morning. The plane landed anyway. Within hours, Houthi air defense had fired on the Saudi formation and Yemen's Houthi movement had put Saudi Arabia on notice that any repetition would cost the kingdom its airports.

delivering the Yemeni passengers home after medical treatment in Iran, then returning to carry a Houthi delegation to Khamenei's funeral in Tehran.

Yemen's armed forces spokesman Yahya Saree issued the warning in terms that left little ambiguity about the scope of retaliation being threatened. "We w...