UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi condemned recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and the reported targeting of civilian sites during a meeting in New York on September 19, according to the GCC Secretariat and regional news reports.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the high-level meetings surrounding the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. A GCC Secretariat account said the two officials reviewed GCC-UN relations, discussed regional developments and condemned what the Secretariat described as Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia and civilian objects. The statement said they viewed those attacks as a serious threat to regional peace and security.
Saudi Gazette reported the same core account on September 20, saying Guterres and Albudaiwi condemned the attacks and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation between the Gulf bloc and the United Nations. Qatar News Agency independently carried a report on the meeting, also saying both officials criticised the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and civilian assets and discussed regional issues and ongoing diplomatic efforts.
Gulf Pulse is attributing the description of the attacks, their targets and their security implications to the GCC Secretariat and the officials quoted in those reports. This article does not independently determine the legality of the underlying military actions, assign responsibility for every reported incident, or adopt political labels used by any party as Gulf Pulse’s own characterization.
The meeting came amid a period of renewed regional tension involving Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi movement. Separate Saudi and regional reports in recent days have described missile alerts, interceptions and competing claims over attacks on Saudi cities and infrastructure. Those incidents are covered separately by Gulf Pulse, and this article does not merge all of those claims into a single verified event record.
Albudaiwi had also issued a separate GCC statement condemning Houthi attacks and expressing support for Saudi Arabia’s security, sovereignty and territorial integrity. The GCC statement used strong political language about the Houthis and called for an international response. Gulf Pulse treats that wording as the GCC secretary-general’s stated position rather than independent factual language.
The September 19 meeting also covered broader GCC-UN cooperation. QNA said the two sides discussed how to strengthen their partnership and reviewed regional issues. The reports said Guterres praised development and stability efforts by GCC states. No new treaty, security mechanism, sanctions package or operational military decision was announced as a result of the meeting.
The distinction matters because diplomatic condemnation does not by itself establish a new collective security action. The verified development is a joint public position expressed during a high-level meeting: both secretaries-general condemned the reported Houthi attacks and warned about their impact on regional security.
The source material reviewed for this draft does not provide an independently verified casualty figure tied to the meeting statement, nor does it list every civilian site allegedly targeted. Gulf Pulse has therefore avoided adding casualty numbers or a comprehensive target list. Where other articles discuss specific missiles or incidents, those claims are separately sourced and attributed.
The Houthis have issued their own claims during the broader escalation, including statements about attacks on Saudi targets, while Saudi authorities have reported interceptions and warnings. Those competing claims underline the need to distinguish between what each side says and what has been independently confirmed. This article is limited to the documented diplomatic reaction from the UN and GCC chiefs.
For publication, the central supported facts are that Guterres and Albudaiwi met in New York on September 19; the GCC Secretariat and multiple regional outlets reported that both condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and civilian objects; and they said such attacks threatened regional peace and security. Any later UN statement, GCC action, Saudi response or change in the conflict should be treated as a separate update.
