Trump Rejects Saudi Crown Prince’s Plea To Strike Houthis as Terror Group Seizes Strategic Red Sea Port

President Trump declined to launch military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen as the terror group seized a strategic Red Sea port. Saudi Crown Prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed Bin Salman, called Trump twice on Thursday asking him to attack the Houthis, according to Axios.The president reportedly declined as Washington has no plans to intervene in the escalating conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. “The United States is focused on protecting our core national security interests — such as ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea — while empowering our regional partners to take the lead in managing and resolving regional security challenges,” Axios cited an American official saying. “We are in continuous dialogue with Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Yemen Government regarding regional stability,” the official added.The report comes as the Houthis captured the key port city of Mokha on the Red Sea and the nearby Zuqar island. Mokha is less than 50 miles away from the 12 mile-wide Bab el Mandeb Strait, sparking concerns that the Houthis could further disrupt shipping in the Red Sea. The U.S. has, however, deployed around 200 military personnel in Saudi Arabia to provide “non-kinetic support” for the oil-rich Kingdom, Axios said. CNN also reported that more than 100 American military personnel were stationed in Saudi Arabia, providing intelligence to Riyadh in its fight against the Houthis.The personnel are working out of a joint forces command which was established in recent weeks, the report added. Trump’s reported decline to assist Saudi Arabia with military strikes comes as Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Vice President, Lt. Gen. Tareq Saleh, ordered armed forces to reorganize on the Western coast to combat the Houthis. Al Arabiya cited Yemeni field sources saying that the government had sent reinforcements from Mokha toward the Dhubab area in the Taiz governorate further south. Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UN, Abdulaziz al-Wasel, lashed out at the Houthis on Thursday at a Security Council meeting, saying: “These are not isolated incidents, but rather an extension of a systematic hostile approach pursued by this militia since its coup against the legitimate Yemeni government in 2014.”“It is an approach based on targeting civilians, economic facilities, and using violence and threats to impose its will by force. It began with military escalation within Yemen and then extended to targeting the Kingdom (of Saudi Arabia), its citizens and residents, and its resources,” he added.

Trump Rejects Saudi Crown Prince’s Plea To Strike Houthis as Terror Group Seizes Strategic Red Sea Port

Trump Rejects Saudi Crown Prince’s Plea To Strike Houthis as Terror Group Seizes Strategic Red Sea Port

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