Houthis threaten to attack US interests if Washington joins Saudi strikes on Yemen

A Houthi military adviser told AFP that the group would attack US interests in the Middle East if Washington intervenes in Yemen’s conflict in support of Saudi Arabia or tries to unblock the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The Iran-backed Houthis seized control of the narrow shipping lane, gateway to the Red Sea, this month, while Saudi Arabia has reportedly requested American and international military assistance against them.

“If America dares to intervene militarily with its fleets or tries to take control of Bab el-Mandeb, it is a red line for them and anyone else… we will fight over it,” military adviser Abed Mohammed al-Thawr told AFP in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.

The Houthi blockade has shaken Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, which was already hit by Tehran’s stranglehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz as part of its war with the United States.

The Iran-backed Houthis dislodged Saudi-backed government forces from Yemen’s Red Sea coast in fighting that left hundreds dead. Houthi drones and missiles have also targeted Saudi sites, including the capital Riyadh for the first time in years.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman requested help from US President Donald Trump in fighting the Houthis, according to US reports. Yemen’s government also made the request, a well-placed source told AFP. Trump reportedly rejected the request, although CNN reported two weeks ago that US personnel were on the ground in Saudi Arabia providing intel for strikes but stopping short of taking part.

The New York Times reported that the administration had prepared on Sunday to launch airstrikes against the Houthis after fresh pleas from the Saudi crown prince. But the newspaper said Trump called off the airstrikes at the last minute, even as troops were loading bombs onto aircraft.

The Houthis say Saudi Arabia has conducted hundreds of strikes in Yemen since fighting resumed in July, effectively ending a four-year truce.

“If America gambles on supporting Saudi Arabia with airstrikes or air support… We will consider any American interests around us to be targets and we will not exclude anything,” Thawr told AFP, adding that the group will “close Bab el-Mandeb completely to American ships.”

While the Yemen civil war predates the US-Iran war by years, renewed fighting in Yemen pits allies of Washington and Tehran against each other while the two foes are stalemated in the Gulf.

Houthi-affiliated media said Wednesday that Saudi airstrikes had killed 10 people and left 14 others wounded in Yemen’s Taiz and Al-Jawf governorates over the past 24 hours.

“Eight civilians were killed and 11 others wounded in Taiz, while two civilians were killed and three others wounded in Al-Jawf,” Al-Masirah TV channel said.

Thawr denied receiving directives from Iran, but said they are “one alliance and one body.”

“Iran is a friendly, allied, and brotherly country to us, but it does not direct us. We are independent in our decisions and in our sovereignty,” he said.

The United Nations on Tuesday said the number of people displaced by the conflict could swell from over 130,000 to more than 230,000 in the coming months.

“As long as Saudi Arabia insists on and continues killing our country and striking our people, we will strike with an iron fist,” Thawr said. “We possess sufficient capability to discipline Saudi Arabia, punish it, and force it out of the game in the fields of oil and the economy.”