![Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei meets with Iranian air force commanders and air defense officers at the Imam Khomeini Khosseini Hosseiniyeh in the capital Tehran, Iran on February 07, 2025. [Iranian Leader Press Off. / Handout - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/AA-20250207-36983714-36983697-IRANIAN_SUPREME_LEADER_ALI_KHAMENEI.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today said that Tehran does not need proxies in the region and that Yemen’s Houthis act on their own motivations, Reuters reports.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday he would hold Iran responsible for any attacks carried out by the Houthis, as his administration expanded the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since he returned to the White House.
Over the years, Iran has been aligned with groups across the region that describe themselves as the “Axis of Resistance” to Israel and US influence.
Americans, said Khamenei, “make a big mistake and call regional resistance centres Iranian proxies. What does proxy mean?”
“The Yemeni nation has its own motivation and the resistance groups in the region have their own motivations. Iran doesn’t need proxies,” Khamenei said.
“They issue threats,” added Khamenei, but “we have never started a confrontation or conflict with anyone. However, if anyone acts with malice and initiates it, they will receive severe slaps.”
READ: Houthis claim hypersonic missile strike on Israel airport