SANAA — A Houthi military adviser told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the Iran-backed group would attack American interests in the Middle East if the United States intervenes in Yemen’s conflict in support of Saudi Arabia or tries to unblock the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
The Houthis seized control of the narrow shipping lane that serves as the gateway to the Red Sea last month, while Saudi Arabia has reportedly requested American and international military assistance against them.
“If America dares to intervene militarily with its fleets or tries to take control of Bab al-Mandab, it is a red line for them and anyone else… we will fight over it,” military adviser Abed Mohammed al-Thawr told AFP in an exclusive interview.
The Houthi blockade has shaken Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, which was already hit by Tehran’s stranglehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz as part of its war with the US.
The Houthis dislodged Saudi-backed government forces from Yemen’s Red Sea coast in fighting that left hundreds of people dead. Houthi drones and missiles have also targeted Saudi sites, including the capital Riyadh for the first time in years.
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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman requested help from US President Donald Trump in fighting the Houthis, according to US reports.
Yemen’s government also made the request, a well-placed source told AFP.
The Houthis say Saudi Arabia has conducted hundreds of strikes in Yemen since fighting resumed in July, effectively ending a four-year truce.
“If America gambles on supporting Saudi Arabia with airstrikes or air support… We will consider any American interests around us to be targets, and we will not exclude anything,” Thawr told AFP, adding that they would “close Bab al-Mandab completely to American ships.”
While the Yemeni civil war predates the US-Iran war by years, renewed fighting in Yemen pits allies of Washington and Tehran against each other while the two foes are stalemated in the Gulf.
Thawr denied receiving directives from Iran but said they were “one alliance and one body.”
“Iran is a friendly, allied and brotherly country to us, but it does not direct us. We are independent in our decisions and in our sovereignty,” he said.
The United Nations on Tuesday said the number of people displaced could swell from over 130,000 today to more than 230,000 in the coming months.
“As long as Saudi Arabia insists on and continues killing our country and striking our people, we will strike with an iron fist,” Thawr said.
“We possess sufficient capability to discipline Saudi Arabia, punish it, and force it out of the game in the fields of oil and the economy,” he added.