Iran Guards: Saudi Arabia Will Not Stop Houthi Attacks

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have warned that Saudi Arabia will be unable to contain Yemen’s Houthi rebels as attacks by the Tehran-backed group against the kingdom increase. Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebi said Saudi Arabia would not be able to stop the Houthis, also known as Ansarullah, or prevent further attacks on its territory. He argued that Saudi military action was producing a stronger response, saying the more Saudi Arabia attacks, the more it is hit in return. Yemen has emerged as another front in the wider Middle East conflict that began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes against Iran. The latest Houthi-Saudi escalation followed tit-for-tat attacks in early July, after an Iranian aircraft arrived in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. The Houthis have also attempted to blockade Saudi ports along the Red Sea. The renewed fighting has disrupted a fragile truce that had largely held since 2022 between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, concerns are growing over the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, a major international shipping route linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. A Yemeni government minister told AFP that the Houthis were planning to seize territory near the waterway, potentially strengthening their ability to threaten shipping through the strategic passage. Three Houthi military sources and a spokesman for government forces fighting the rebels near the area also told AFP that the group was preparing to advance south from its current positions. The reported developments have heightened concerns over a further escalation of the conflict and its potential impact on regional security and international maritime trade.

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