Sanaa — Yemen’s Iranian-backed Huthi rebels warned on Saturday they could launch attacks against the capitals of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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.”

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 intercepted all missiles, with one civilian reported killed by falling shrapnel, while the UAE has denied the alleged drone attacks.

On Wednesday the UN Security Council met to discuss the stalled truce deal that had been agreed in Sweden in December.

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. UN envoy Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on Wednesday he was still working to make the redeployment a “reality”. — AFP