On October 17, local time, UN Secretary-General Guterres issued a statement through his spokesman Dujaric, expressing deep concern about the recent continuous public accusations of UN personnel by the Houthi armed forces in Yemen, and solemnly refuting the relevant remarks made by the Houthi armed leadership on October 16.

On the 16th, Houthi armed leader Abdul Malik Houthi said that the Houthi armed forces had recently detained many staff members of United Nations agencies.It is because these men are engaged in espionage for the United States, Israel and the United Kingdom, and are suspected of providing intelligence, coordinates and planning sabotage.

The spokesman noted that the Secretary-General denies all such allegations and expresses its firm support for UN personnel who are on the front lines in Yemen and around the world.The statement stresses that such unfounded allegations are dangerous and unacceptable.It seriously threatens the safety of UN personnel and humanitarian workers and undermines humanitarian rescue operations aimed at saving lives.Guterres reiterated that all parties should always fulfill their responsibilities and obligations to protect humanitarian rescue operations and the safety of those involved in accordance with international law.

The statement reiterates its call for the Houthi armed forces to immediately and unconditionally release all arbitrarily detained persons, including UN agencies, NGOs, civil society groups and staff of diplomatic agencies, some of whom have been illegally detained since 2021.