Mohammad Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen, called for an emergency meeting and the banning of Saudi products from entering Yemen, in response to the controversy surrounding the statements made by the Lebanese Minister of Information George Kordahi.

Saudi Arabia summoned its ambassador in Lebanon for consultations, while it requested the ambassador of Lebanon to leave the kingdom within 48 hours and decided to stop all Lebanese imports to the kingdom.

Al-Houthi detailed that "if Saudi Arabia prevents the entry of Lebanese products because of the position of the Minister of Information, I invite the Yemeni government to an emergency meeting and issue a decision to prevent Saudi products from entering Yemen."

The head of the Sanaa negotiating delegation, Muhammad Abdul Salam, also commented on the Saudi decision, stressing that "the Saudi persistence in the policy of arrogance does not cover the failure of the aggression against Yemen."

Following the footsteps of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain gave the Lebanese ambassador 48 hours to exit the country. The Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that their decision does not affect the Lebanese residing in the kingdom.

Kordahi sparked international and local outrage after he expressed on a television show that the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement "has been defending itself in the face of external aggression against Yemen for years."

He added, "there is no comparison between Hezbollah's effort to liberate Lebanese land and Ansar Allah's defense in the face of external aggression by Saudi Arabia and the UAE."

What exacerbated the crisis further was Kordahi's refusal to apologize, stressing that he would have apologized for his statements if he had made them while in his official position.