The UN Security Council strongly condemned escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and threats to commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait. (EPA Images pic)UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council issued a joint statement on Thursday condemning the "escalatory" attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabia, including "reckless strikes" on Riyadh's airport.

The Saudi capital's international airport has been targeted by strikes 20 times since the beginning of the month, with an attack last weekend killing 13 people and wounding more than 300.

In a joint statement shared by the Security Council's president, Greece's Evangelos Sekeris, the 15-member UN body "condemned in the strongest terms continued and escalatory Houthi attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," as well as "continued Houthi attacks and threats against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab (Strait)."