Saudi Diplomat: Iran-Backed Houthis Holding ‘World as Hostage,’ Biden’s ‘Pinprick Bombings’ Aren’t Enough
The Saudi diplomat lamented that “pinprick bombings” by American and British forces have had a minimal effect on the situation in the Red Sea. He also condemned Iran, however, for doing nothing to stop the Houthis from disrupting global trade. The Houthis, known formally as Ansarallah, could find their operations severely limited if resources from Tehran dried up.
“The Houthis now hold the world as hostage in the Bab al-Mandab entrance to the Red Sea, and yet Iran is not showing that it can do something there if it wanted to,” al-Faisal said, “and the kingdom [Saudi Arabia] would have expected Iran to be more forthcoming in showing not just to us but to others that it can be a positive factor in securing stability and removing differences not just with Saudi Arabia but the rest of us.”
Saudi Arabia conducted a military operation against the Houthis in Yemen for years, following the Houthi conquest of the Yemeni capital Sana’a in 2014 that led to the ongoing civil war. Riyadh supports the legitimate government of Yemen against the Ansarallah, which now claims to be the government of the country. That operation resulted in the Houthis orchestrating significant terrorist assaults within Saudi territory, including bombing key oil facilities.
While the Saudi government counted on firm support from the United States under former President Donald Trump, that support dried up under successor Joe Biden. Biden outraged the Saudi government with several measures including removing the Houthis from the State Department’s list of designated foreign terrorist organizations and halting the sale of offensive weapons to the Saudi military in response to alleged Saudi human rights abuses in Yemen. Following the launch of the Houthi campaign against commercial shipping in Saudi Arabia, Biden told reporters that delisting the Houthis — allowing them significantly amplified opportunities for global funding — was “irrelevant.”
As the Iranian regime supported the Houthis through their war with Saudi Arabia, the situation placed the two countries in a proxy war situation that severely jeopardized the already volatile situation in the Middle East. The Chinese communist regime, looking for ways to expand its influence in the Middle East, ultimately brokered a tenuous deal between Tehran and Riyadh to restore diplomatic relations in March 2023 that led to a ceasefire agreement between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in September of that year.
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