Yemen’s Houthis will not “dial down” their action against Israeli shipping in the Red Sea in response to US military pressure or appeals from the group’s allies such as Iran, the Yemeni group’s foreign minister said late yesterday.
Jamal Amer spoke to Reuters after the US launched a wave of strikes in areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthis, who said last week they were resuming attacks on Israel-linked vessels in the Red Sea to support Palestinians in Gaza.
Two senior Iranian officials told Reuters that Iran had delivered a verbal message to the Houthi envoy in Tehran on Friday to cool tensions and that Iran’s foreign minister asked Oman, which has mediated with the Houthis, to convey a similar message to the group when he visited Muscat on Sunday. Both officials asked not to be named.
Iran has not made any public comment about recent outreach to the Houthis over their renewed action. Tehran says the group takes decisions independently.
US President Donald Trump said yesterday he would hold Iran responsible for any attacks carried out by the Houthis.
“There will be no talk of any dialling down of operations before ending the aid blockade in Gaza. Iran is not interfering in our decision but what is happening is that it mediates sometimes but it cannot dictate things,” Amer said, in his first comments on the issue to a foreign news agency.
Speaking from Yemen’s capital Sanaa, which has been hit by US strikes, he said he had not been informed of any message Iran delivered to the Houthi envoy in Tehran.
There were messages from other powers to dial down, he said, but added: “Now we see that Yemen is at war with the US and that means that we have a right to defend ourselves with all possible means, so escalation is likely.”
IRANIAN CONCERNS
Iran has shown increasing concern it could be drawn deeper into conflict with the United States.
Trump, who withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and six major powers that curbed its sensitive nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief, has stepped up a “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions on Iran since returning to office for a second term in January.
“[The US] is threatening Iran and hitting Yemen. Now all scenarios are possible. We will do what they will do to us. If they are hitting us from [US aircraft carrier USS Harry S.] Truman, we will retaliate by hitting Truman,” the Houthi foreign minister said.
The Houthis said on 12 March they had resumed attacks on Israeli ships using routes that pass through the Red Sea after the group said Israel had not met a Houthi deadline for ending an aid blockade on Gaza.
Israel’s blockade, which includes food and medical supplies, began on 2 March, a day after the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement came to an end. Israel refused to proceed with negotiations on the second phase, which would lead to a permanent end to war, instead seeking to force Palestinians to agree to release all captives while making no concessions itself.
Israel launched heavy air strikes across Gaza overnight killing more than 400 Palestinians and later issued evacuation orders, forcing already displaced Palestinians to once again seek shelter elsewhere in the decimated enclave.
READ: US could hit Iran targets in Yemen over support for Houthis, official warns