Houthis warn Saudi Arabia of retaliation if it backs U.S. attacks

By Mohammed Hatem and Christine Burke Bloomberg News

2 months ago

Members of Houthi security forces stand guard during a march in the capital Sanaa on March 15, ... — Members of Houthi security forces stand guard during a march in the capital Sanaa on March 15, 2024, in support of Palestinians amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant Hamas group in the Gaza Strip. A missile launched on March 15 by Yemen’s Houthi rebels at a ship in the Red Sea caused no damage, after they threatened to expand their harassment campaign which has disrupted global trade. (Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

The Yemen-based Houthi terrorists renewed their threats against Saudi Arabia, warning it not to support U.S. strikes against the group.

“We have sent a message to Saudi Arabia that it will be a target if it allows American fighter jets to use its territory or airspace in their aggression on Yemen,” Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the Houthis’ Supreme Political Council, said in an interview with Al-Masirah TV.

U.S. and U.K. forces have been striking Houthi military facilities since the start of this year to stem the terrorist group’s assault on ships in the Red Sea, a vital waterway for global commerce.

Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen, hasn’t joined those air assaults or a U.S.-led naval operation meant to provide commercial ships safe passage through the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The kingdom is trying to reach a peace agreement with the Houthis to end Yemen’s civil war, a conflict that’s raged for most of the past decade but with the sides in a fragile truce since 2022.

The Saudi government led a U.S.-backed military campaign against the Houthis starting in 2015. But it now sees peace in Yemen as key to keeping the wider Gulf region stable and advancing its massive economic transformation plans.

Before the truce, the Houthis regularly struck Saudi territory. In 2019, they claimed an assault that briefly knocked out about half of the kingdom’s oil production.

The Houthis, an Islamist terrorist organization backed by Iran, which has vowed to destroy Israel, have been undeterred by the U.S. and U.K. airstrikes and continue to attack warships and commercial ships with missiles and drones on a near-daily basis.

They recently said they would expand their campaign to target ships avoiding the Red Sea and sailing around southern Africa instead.

Al-Houthi signaled more tense relations between the Houthis and Saudis by saying the kingdom needed to take more serious steps toward a peace plan.

He stressed negotiations can’t progress until the kingdom agrees to resume the payment of some salaries, electricity and other services in Yemen.

Al-Houthi also confirmed the group had given China and Russia assurances their ships wouldn’t be targeted.