THE first flight carrying pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, in more than seven years took off from Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa at the weekend.

The airport’s manager Khalid al-Shayyef said further flights to the coastal city of Jeddah would take place on Monday and Wednesday, and more were planned.

Yemenis from Houthi-controlled parts of the country have been unable to travel to Saudi Arabia since the latter led a coalition to war with them in 2015, seeking to restore the ousted regime of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled to Riyadh after his overthrow the previous year. 

Over 400,000 people are estimated to have died from the ensuing conflict, in which Saudi forces — benefiting from British arms supplies and logistical assistance — are accused of war crimes including the indiscriminate bombing of residential areas, schools and hospitals.

The flights signal a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis that has followed the China-brokered resumption of relations between Riyadh and Tehran, which supports the Houthis.

These had been broken off in 2016, after Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions following the Saudi execution of a leading Shi’ite cleric.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan arrived in the Iranian capital on Saturday to officially open the new Saudi embassy there, and announced that Saudi King Salman has invited Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on a state visit.

Mr Raisi reportedly told Prince Faisal that the normalisation of relations with Israel by some Arab states in 2020 following a diplomatic push by then US president Donald Trump was a security issue for the Middle East and needed to be reversed. Saudi Arabia has not normalised relations with Tel Aviv.