U.S. President Donald Trump rejected a request from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for strikes against Houthi fighters in Yemen, according to American media.
The Saudi crown prince reportedly called Trump to tell him about the deteriorating military situation in Yemen as Houthi forces approached the coastal city of Mokha and requested strikes on the Houthis. Although the American president declined, Washington will provide Saudi Arabia with intelligence on the Houthis, and more than 200 U.S. military personnel are already in Saudi Arabia providing “non-kinetic support,” according to a U.S. official cited by American media.
Meanwhile, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan spoke with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi about “the escalation of tensions and the growing insecurity in the region,” according to Tehran’s foreign ministry. The two parties “emphasized the need to continue cooperation and diplomatic efforts in order to prevent the spread of tensions and reestablish stability.” Although the ministry did not specifically mention Yemen in the readout, a separate statement addressing the fighting there insisted it was “impossible to resolve the Yemeni crisis through… military intervention.”
On Friday, Houthi fighters in Yemen seized the key Red Sea island of Mayyun in the middle of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, completing a push to take control of a waterway crucial to Saudi oil exports.
“The Houthis have completed their takeover of the Bab al-Mandab area and Mayyun Island, which is located in the middle of the strait,” a local government official told French media.
The Iran-backed Houthis, who have for years controlled large parts of northern Yemen, launched a large-scale offensive last week against Saudi-backed government forces. Saudi Arabia has responded with dozens of airstrikes, with the latest two hitting Mokha airport, Houthi media reported on Friday. The fighting in Yemen has taken center stage in the Middle East war, which erupted with U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran and prompted the Islamic republic to blockade another waterway crucial to global energy flows, the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s refusal to authorize strikes suggests Washington is seeking to limit direct U.S. involvement in Yemen while continuing to support Saudi operations through intelligence and targeting assistance. The Houthis’ takeover of the Bab al-Mandab area nevertheless raises the stakes by placing another critical energy and shipping chokepoint at the center of the wider conflict as Hormuz remains disrupted. The Saudi–Iranian phone call underscores Riyadh’s parallel effort to contain the escalation diplomatically, even as the two countries continue to back opposing sides in Yemen. (AFP+EIR)
