Iraq News Now

Yemen's Houthi rebels warned on Saturday they could launch

attacks against the capitals of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who

lead a military coalition against them.

The threat came as the United Nations was trying to salvage

a truce deal in Yemen, seen as crucial to diplomatic efforts to end the

country's four-year war.

"We have aerial photographs and coordinates of dozens

of headquarters, facilities and military bases of the enemy," rebel

military spokesman Yahya Saree said in comments carried by the rebels'

Al-Masirah channel.

"The legitimate targets of our forces extend to the

capital of Saudi Arabia and to the emirate of Abu Dhabi," capital of the

UAE, he said.

"We have manufactured advanced generations of attack

aircraft, and new systems will soon be functional."

The Iran-linked Houthi rebels have targeted Saudi border

towns and Riyadh with ballistic missiles and also claimed drone attacks on the

airports of Abu Dhabi and Dubai during the course of the conflict

Saudi Arabia has said the missiles were all intercepted by

its air force, with one civilian reported killed by falling shrapnel, while the

UAE has denied the alleged drone attacks.

Saudi Arabia and its military allies joined the Yemeni

government's war against the Iran-linked Houthis in March 2015, triggering what

the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

On Wednesday the UN Security Council met to discuss the

stalled truce deal that had been agreed in Sweden in December between the

Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Houthis.

The deal -- which called for a ceasefire, rebel pullback and

mutual redeployment from Hodeida, Yemen's lifeline Red Sea port controlled by

the Houthis -- offered the best hope in years of moving toward an end to the

conflict.

While the fighting in Hodeida has eased, redeployment

efforts have stalled in recent weeks.

UN envoy Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on

Wednesday he was still working to make the redeployment a "reality".