Houthis Warn Against Joining Saudi Arabia as Yemen's Civil War Reignites

A senior official of Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels has warned other countries against joining Saudi Arabia in the country's revived civil war, while saying the group has assured the Trump administration that it will not attack American vessels in the Red Sea.

Mohamed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthis' political bureau, said Washington made contact with the rebels after their rapid advance down Yemen's western coast to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait earlier this month. Speaking from the rebel-held capital, Sanaa, he said the group had conveyed that it is not targeting the United States or any other nation in the strait, with the sole exception of Saudi Arabia.

US President Donald Trump said last weekend that his administration had held discussions with the Houthis, without specifying when, adding that the group had called and did not want to fight with Washington. Al-Bukhaiti, however, confirmed only indirect contacts with US officials through Oman, the longtime mediator that brokered a 2025 ceasefire between the two sides. That deal ended a weekslong US bombing campaign against the rebels in exchange for a halt to their attacks on American vessels in the Red Sea.

Al-Bukhaiti said the aim of the group's military operations is not to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait but to ensure freedom of navigation through it for everyone, including Yemen. He added that the rebels could fight on multiple fronts should any nation become involved in what he described as aggression against Yemen alongside Saudi Arabia.

He said Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia would continue until Riyadh ends its decade-long blockade on rebel-held areas and allows vessels to reach Houthi-controlled ports on the Red Sea, after which the group would be ready to negotiate. He blamed Saudi Arabia for the latest escalation, which he said followed an airstrike attributed to the Saudi-led coalition that hit Sanaa international airport and prevented an Iranian flight carrying a Houthi delegation from landing.

The Houthis responded with missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia, including one aimed at Riyadh on Saturday that was intercepted. Saudi officials said debris from a Houthi drone killed one civilian and injured others. The rebels also declared a blockade on Saudi shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea, attacking Saudi-linked vessels and oil facilities inside the kingdom, the world's top oil exporter.

The rebels' advance inside Yemen seized the crucial port city of Mokha and key Red Sea islands, giving them a better vantage point to monitor shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb, through which about 12% of world trade normally passes. Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces, long divided into factions, withdrew but have vowed to regroup.

The escalation ended a 2022 ceasefire that had largely halted fighting in Yemen's civil war, which began when the Houthis swept in from their mountainous heartland and seized much of northern and central Yemen, including Sanaa, 12 years ago. The Saudi-led coalition entered the war the following year on behalf of the internationally recognized government. The conflict has killed at least 150,000 people, according to UN estimates, and pushed the country to the brink of famine.

With the Houthis now controlling Yemen's western coast overlooking the Red Sea shipping corridor, al-Bukhaiti said the balance of power has shifted in favor of the Sanaa authorities, adding that Saudi Arabia has lost its most critical card: the west coast.