Saudi Arabia halted flights at seven airports near the Yemeni border on Thursday, as it launched air strikes against Huthi rebels in its southern neighbor, the civil aviation department said.

"The General Authority of Civil Aviation of Saudi Arabia announced a temporary suspension of international and domestic flights to and from airports in the south of the kingdom," from dawn on Thursday, the department said in a statement.

Mustaqbal Movment chief and Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri praised on Thursday the “wise and courageous decision” taken by Saudi King Salman to intervene militarily in Yemen as Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat feared that it would affect the interest of Lebanese in the Gulf.

“The Iranian interference in Sanaa compelled an Arab reaction,” Hariri said in comments to the al-Arabiya Arabic language television station.

Members of Yemen's Shiite Huthi militia in control of the capital have increased their attacks against journalists, including arrests and alleged torture, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.

As security in the violence-wracked nation deteriorates, the rights group said the Huthis -- who swept into Sanaa last year and have battled periodically with al-Qaida -- were committing a string of abuses against journalists.

Shiite militia in Yemen seized the airport in a key central city Sunday as deteriorating security prompted Washington to evacuate personnel and the U.N. Security Council to call an emergency session.

The Security Council was to meet later Sunday after President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi called for "urgent intervention" amid mounting unrest, including suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State group that killed 142 people in the capital Sanaa on Friday.

Suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group killed at least 142 people Friday at mosques in the Yemeni capital, in an attack targeting Shiite worshipers including Huthi militiamen.

The multiple blasts were among the deadliest attacks yet in Yemen, which is grappling with growing instability and divisions along sectarian lines.

Two gunmen on a motorbike shot dead a top official of the Shiite Huthi militia in the Yemeni capital on Wednesday, a security source said.

Abdul Karim al-Khiwani, who was a member of the Revolutionary Committee of the Huthis that control Sanaa, was shot close to his home in an incident confirmed by Huthi television channel Al-Massira.

An Iranian diplomat kidnapped in Yemen and held hostage for nearly two years has been rescued in a military operation and returned to Tehran on Thursday, official media reported.

Nour-Ahmad Nikbakht was seized in July 2013 while leaving his home in Sanaa by gunmen suspected of being members of al-Qaida.

Shiite Huthi militiamen fired warning shots Wednesday to disperse a demonstration in Sanaa as protesters voiced support for embattled Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, organizers said.

Thousands of protesters marched in the center of the militia-held capital, chanting "Huthis out" before gunmen discharged their guns in the air and attacked demonstrators with knives and batons, organizers said.

A first Iranian flight landed in the Yemeni capital on Sunday, a day after officials from the Shiite militia-controlled city signed an aviation agreement with Tehran.

The Mahan Air plane arrived in Sanaa carrying a team from the Iranian Red Crescent and medical aid, an aviation official told Agence France-Presse.

Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi has retracted his resignation after escaping house arrest in the militia-controlled capital, an aide said Tuesday, staking a claim to lead the country out of crisis.

The embattled leader had tendered his resignation last month after the Shiite militia, known as Huthis, seized the presidential palace and besieged his residence in Sanaa.