Iran says Saudi Arabia ‘unable to contain’ Houthis as Yemen front intensifies

TEHRAN, Aug 20 — Iran's Revolutionary Guards have issued a warning that Saudi Arabia will be unable to contain the Tehran-backed Houthis in Yemen as the rebels intensify their attacks on the kingdom. According to Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for the Guards, "Saudi Arabia will certainly be unable to contain Yemen and Ansarullah or remain safe from their attacks."

The Guards spokesman emphasized that the more Saudi Arabia attacks, the more the Houthis retaliate. In recent days, Yemen has become the latest front in the Middle Eastern conflict that erupted on February 28 following US-Israeli strikes on Iran. The Houthi attacks and their attempt to blockade Saudi Arabia's Red Sea ports followed tit-for-tat strikes in early July after an Iranian plane landed in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

Yemen has been engulfed in a prolonged war for over a decade, and the latest fighting has disrupted a 2022 truce with the Saudi-backed internationally-recognized government. This week, a Yemeni minister informed AFP that the Houthi rebels are plotting to seize land along the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital shipping artery, and are planning to advance south from their current territory.