Houthis Expand the War in the Middle East as the U.S. Declines to Intervene — Frustration Grows in the Persian Gulf

The dramatic advances of the Iranian-backed Houthis, including the seizure of a strategic island in the Red Sea, have dealt another blow to the region battered by the U.S. war with Iran and deepened the global energy crisis. But neither the United States nor its key ally, Saudi Arabia, has a clear plan to push the group back — and many in the region are wondering where the counteroffensive will come from, CNN reported on Saturday, citing multiple sources.

The Trump administration is signaling it has little interest in using the U.S. military to stop the Houthis, leaving the task to Saudi Arabia. Even with additional American support in intelligence and targeting data, Riyadh has failed to effectively stop the Houthis from taking key coastal cities in Yemen — a failure frustrating Gulf and American officials. Sources expressed doubt the Saudis could manage on their own.

President Donald Trump has made clear that his current red line is direct U.S. participation in kinetic strikes against the Houthis. So far, U.S. military support has been strictly intelligence and targeting data for Saudi strikes. “No offensive strikes,” a U.S. official said. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke twice with Trump last week to ask for U.S. strikes against the Houthis. That request has, so far, been refused — and sources say it is hard to predict whether the administration’s policy will change.

The latest intensification has been unprecedented. The Houthis claim they downed a Saudi F-15 fighter jet and say they struck “sensitive targets” in Riyadh and an Aramco facility in Yanbu with missiles and drones on Saturday. Saudi Arabia accused the Houthis of targeting Mecca, Islam’s holiest city. On Saturday evening the Saudi military said air defenses had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis toward Riyadh — and over the past day alarms have sounded across the capital, the first time Riyadh has been directly threatened since the escalation with the Houthis began in July.

Furthermore, the U.S. “reinforced the ceasefire” with the Houthis during a meeting in Oman this weekend, the U.S. official said — a message underscoring the administration’s unwillingness to get involved. “The Americans sent a message,” a senior Houthi official told CNN on Thursday, “that they don’t want to join the Saudis and become part of the conflict. We took this message positively.”

The situation in Yemen has also complicated the negotiation process over the Strait of Hormuz. The first meeting between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Iran since the start of the U.S.–Iran war was canceled this week: Saudi Arabia decided not to attend over concerns about the language of a possible Oman–Iran agreement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and the other Gulf states followed suit. “Because of the Houthi attacks and the situation near the Bab el-Mandeb corridor, the agreement on the Strait of Hormuz is being affected,” a regional source told CNN. “The Saudis are seeking an all-or-nothing approach.”

Former diplomats describe the American disengagement as shocking. “It’s a pretty harsh way to treat the relationship with a close partner, to look like you’re privileging your arrangement with a group you’ve designated as a foreign terrorist organization that attacked that partner,” said Barbara Leaf, a former U.S. diplomat. Former Ambassador Joey Hood warned: “The Houthi push in the Red Sea is emboldening the IRGC. The Saudis need to fix this, otherwise they’re negotiating with a gun on the table and they won’t do that.” A current Gulf official summed up the dilemma: “No one wants to fight alone. Either the Saudis fight, or they make a deal with the Houthis.”

Source: CNN