U.S. and Iran hold first talks since June after Trump threatens regime with annihilation

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen will attack U.S. interests in the Middle East if Washington intervenes in the conflict in support of Saudi Arabia, including by attempting to thwart Houthi efforts to blockade Saudi shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a military adviser for the group told the AFP news agency Wednesday.

“If America dares to intervene militarily with its fleets or tries to take control of Bab el-Mandeb, it is a red line for them and anyone else … we will fight over it,” Houthi military adviser Abed Mohammed al-Thawr told the AFP.

The Houthis have dislodged Saudi-backed government forces from Yemen’s Red Sea coast in recent weeks in fighting that has left hundreds dead. Houthi drones and missiles have also targeted Saudi sites, including the capital Riyadh, for the first time in years.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman requested help from President Trump in fighting the Houthis earlier in September, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News. 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 the group would “close Bab el-Mandeb completely to American ships.”

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.  

CBS/AFP