Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman asked President Donald Trump for a US air force operation targeting Yemen’s Houthi group to suppress them. President Trump, however, rejected the request.
Two US officials confirmed to American media outlet Axios that the phone call took place Thursday (September 10).
Regarding the reason for rejecting the Saudi crown prince’s request, the officials said the US administration currently has no plan to take direct military action against the Houthis at this time.
Reuters contacted officials at the White House and the Saudi embassy in Washington for further details, but no official was willing to comment on the matter.
However, Axios’ report said that while ruling out direct military action against the Houthi group, Washington’s concern is steadily growing over the recent clashes between the Houthis and both Yemen’s government army and Saudi Arabia. While unwilling to get directly involved militarily, the Trump administration wants to indirectly support Saudi Arabia on this issue.
On Thursday, a US defence delegation led by Admiral Brad Cooper, top commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), held an urgent meeting with Saudi officials in Riyadh on the issue.
At the meeting, US officials said President Trump currently favours giving maximum attention to freeing Iran and the Strait of Hormuz from Iranian control. For this reason, he wants to avoid conducting military operations elsewhere.
The Houthi-Saudi conflict dates back to 2014. Civil war broke out in Yemen that year, and within just a year, in 2015, the Iran-backed armed political group Houthi seized the capital, Sanaa. After seizing the capital, Yemen’s then-president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia. A Yemeni-Saudi military coalition began operations in Yemen that same year to restore his government to power.
Currently, the Houthis control about half of Yemen’s territory, while the remaining half is controlled by the Saudi-backed Presidential Council government. The Presidential Council government also gained international recognition a few years ago.
A ceasefire agreement was reached between Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia in 2022, but relations between the two sides turned bitter again after an attack on Sanaa airport last July.