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Iran-US war latest: Trump claims Houthis asked US not to intervene in Yemen as drone hits Saudi Arabia oil pipeline
Confirmed
In Short: The Houthis have captured key coastal cities in Yemen, giving them control over the Bab al-Mandeb strait and increasing tensions with the United States and Iran.
The Houthis, a political and armed group dominated by Zaidi Shia Muslims, have been fighting against the Western-backed Yemeni government since capturing the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.
According to reports, the Houthis began to attack several vessels in the Red Sea they claimed were linked to Israel in 2023, as part of their stated aim to pressure Israel to end the genocidal war on Gaza.
Iranian officials have praised the Houthis' victories in Yemen but have not spoken about any planned closure of Bab al-Mandeb.
Tehran, Iran – Iranian authorities and state media have praised the Houthis' capture of Yemen's Red Sea coast, which some see as giving Tehran more leverage against the United States.
Amid the Houthis' recent battlefield wins against the fragmented Saudi-backed forces, senior Iranian officials have cheered their Yemeni allies on.
In response to the Houthis' gains, Saudi Arabia has closed a critical oil pipeline after it was attacked by drones launched from Iraq, as conflict in the Middle East widens.
What's confirmed
- The Houthis, a political and armed group dominated by Zaidi Shia Muslims, have been fighting against the Western-backed Yemeni government since capturing the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.
- According to reports, the Houthis began to attack several vessels in the Red Sea they claimed were linked to Israel in 2023, as part of their stated aim to pressure Israel to end the genocidal war on Gaza.
- Iranian officials have praised the Houthis' victories in Yemen but have not spoken about any planned closure of Bab al-Mandeb.
- Tehran, Iran – Iranian authorities and state media have praised the Houthis' capture of Yemen's Red Sea coast, which some see as giving Tehran more leverage against the United States.
- Amid the Houthis' recent battlefield wins against the fragmented Saudi-backed forces, senior Iranian officials have cheered their Yemeni allies on.
- In response to the Houthis' gains, Saudi Arabia has closed a critical oil pipeline after it was attacked by drones launched from Iraq, as conflict in the Middle East widens.
What's still developing
- The Houthis captured a series of Red Sea coastal cities and islands this week, essentially giving them control over the vital Bab al-Mandeb strait.
- “The victories of Yemen’s Ansar Allah in the western coast is a narrative of a divine triumph and the fruit of years of steadfastness in the most difficult of battlefields,” Hossein Mohebbi, spokesman of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), wrote on X on Saturday.
- A video published on Friday showed a Houthi commander telling soldiers they will no longer need missiles and drones to threaten shipping in the crucial waterway.
- The Quds newspaper, published by the influential Astan-e Quds Razavi in Mashhad, called Iran and the Houthis “the lord of the straits”.
- The Houthis’ capture of the port city of Mocha on Friday delivered a huge blow for the Yemeni government, which now has no direct access to the Red Sea.
- Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iranian parliament speaker and chief negotiator with Washington, reposted a comment made by slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 2024, saying the “resistance” of the Houthis will inevitably lead to victory.
- “The brave Yemeni people will certainly triumph, by permission of God Almighty,” Ghalibaf added on Thursday, in Arabic.
- The “grand victory” of the Houthis once again proved that “security is not a commodity that can be bought,” added Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.