Abdulmalik al-Houthi, leader of the Iran-backed Yemeni terrorist group Ansarullah, warned neighboring Saudi Arabia on Thursday that any normalization deal would “dishonor” his country, suggesting the group’s terrorists would see Saudi Arabia as a legitimate target.
Ansarallah, known as the Houthis after the family that runs the group, has been embroiled in a bloody civil war with Yemen’s legitimate government since 2014. The Saudi government has long supported Yemen’s legitimate government against the Houthis, turning the civil war into a proxy war with Iran. The Houthis have responded by directly attacking Saudi territory for years. bombing domestic oil depots and other civilian facilities;
These attacks mainly Stop Following peace talks in September 2023, the Houthis turned their ire towards Israel, supporting the Iranian-backed Islamist militant group Hamas’ siege of Israel on October 7, declaring war and launching a campaign of attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea. While the Houthis claim to only target ships with ties to Israel and its key allies the United States and Britain, they also routinely attack ships with no obvious ties to these countries, and in some cases have attacked ships linked to allies such as Iran and China.
In their weekly address to the Yemeni public on Thursday, the Al-Houthi rebels expressed their disgust at long-standing rumors of a possible normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Al Habal Al YemenArabic site Related During their talks with the Houthis, the rebels aimed their comments at not only Saudi Arabia but also Muslim-majority Arab countries in general, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which have already normalized ties with Israel.
“We have no enmity towards any Arab country, but we will not accept Arab regimes that serve Israel and submit to America to harm our people,” pro-Houthi media quoted the leader as saying. “Any position that the Saudis take towards our people at this time is clearly in the service of the enemy, Israel, and in submission to America and in support of it.”
The Houthis reportedly vehemently opposed public reports that Saudi Arabia would consider normalizing relations with Israel.
“What motivated you to prioritize friendship with Israel, turn the Gaza tragedy into a normalization deal, and turn against the Yemeni people?” he reportedly asked. “Friendship with Israel is not in your interest or the interest of your people, but rather in your service to harm and humiliate you.”
The Houthis concluded that the terrorists “will not accept a situation where our people are suffocating and starving while other countries harm our people and we enjoy comfort and prosperity without any harm coming to us” – an apparent reference to Saudi Arabia.
Al-Mayadeen is a propaganda outlet affiliated with the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah. report The paper said the Houthis claimed “some Arab countries” were preparing military exercises with Israel, without providing any supporting evidence, and declared the Red Sea attack a “promised victory and holy jihad” and a major success that had benefited Hamas’ cause in Gaza.
“He said the number of targeted vessels had now reached 145, all linked to the Israeli occupation forces, the US and the UK,” Al-Mayadeen was quoted as saying. “He explained that this escalation was part of the fourth phase, moving to a more critical stage.”
The claim that all the ships attacked by the Houthis were linked to Israel, the US or the UK is demonstrably false. The Houthis have attacked Chinese-owned ships, ships carrying Russian oil, and ships carrying grain to Iran. However, the Houthis have previously attacked several ships owned by US and UK entities, suggesting that they were using outdated intelligence in their targeting.
The warning to Riyadh is the latest in a series of similar statements that threaten to reignite the conflict between the Saudi coalition and the Houthis. In March, the group’s senior terrorist, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, reportedly warned in a television appearance that Yemeni terrorists would attack Saudi Arabia again if US forces were allowed to use Saudi Arabian territory to respond to the group’s attacks in the Red Sea.
“We have sent a message to Saudi Arabia that it will be a target. [for Yemen’s retaliatory strikes] “Iran will not be held responsible if it allows US military aircraft to use its territory and airspace in the invasion of Yemen,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi claimed at the time.
In May, Abdulmalik Al-Houthi issued a lengthy statement similar to this week’s, expressing outrage at reports that Saudi Arabia was even considering exploring a path to peace with Israel.
“It is surprising that some regimes are negotiating a security agreement with the US for protection,” the Houthis said, in remarks widely interpreted as a response to reports that the Saudi government was seeking talks with Washington to discuss a security pact that could pave the way for normalization with Israel.
Such a normalization agreement has yet to materialize. Shortly before the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, Saudi officials hinted that behind-the-scenes talks were taking place to advance the goal of normalization. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a September Fox News interview that he hopes the two countries “can reach a situation where we make life easier for the Palestinians and welcome Israel as a player in the Middle East.” While the prince did not mention the establishment of a Palestinian state as a condition for reaching that situation, many interpreted this as a step toward normalization.
Saudi officials lamented since October 7 that Iran had sabotaged normalization talks by funding and supporting Hamas.
“I think up until October 7, we were making very good progress. It’s hard to describe how close we were. It’s something you can’t quantify,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Saud told NBC News in February.
“Iran’s actions are irresponsible. Everyone knows Iran is a country that sponsors terrorism and it should have stopped a long time ago,” an anonymous Saudi official told Israeli public broadcaster KAN in April, saying Iran “orchestrated the war in Gaza to destroy progress in Saudi-Israeli relations.”
A Reuters report in May said the Saudi government was in negotiations with President Joe Biden’s administration over a normalization deal with Israel that would include security guarantees and a “civilian nuclear component.”
