Saudi’s MBS called Trump twice for strikes on Houthis. Why did president say no?

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called US President Donald Trump twice on Thursday to urge him to launch strikes against Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen as the group advanced towards the strategically important Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Axios reported, citing two US officials.

Trump declined the request, according to the report. US officials told Axios that the Trump administration does not currently plan to launch direct military action against the Houthis. Reuters, which separately reported the Axios account, said it could not immediately verify the report. The White House and the Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The calls came as the Houthis made a rapid advance along Yemen’s Red Sea coast. On Friday, four Yemeni government sources told Reuters that the Iran-aligned group had taken control of Perim Island, also known as Mayun, in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Two Saudi-backed Yemeni government sources also said Houthi forces had captured Dhubab, a mainland coastal town facing Perim across the strait.

The developments have raised fears that the Houthis could gain greater leverage over the Bab el-Mandeb, a crucial maritime chokepoint linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. The strait is part of the shipping route connecting Asia and Europe through the Suez Canal and carries oil, fuel and other goods. Reuters estimates that about 7% of global oil output passes through the waterway.

The Saudi request marks a notable shift from Riyadh’s position earlier in the conflict. In July, Saudi Arabia had told Washington that it could deal with the Houthi threat itself. But as the fighting has intensified and the group has moved closer to the Bab el-Mandeb, Riyadh has sought increasing levels of US support, according to Axios.

On Thursday, US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper travelled to Saudi Arabia for urgent coordination meetings, two sources told Axios. US military and civilian officials have also told their Saudi counterparts in recent weeks that Trump’s priority is to keep American forces focused on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, while avoiding the opening of another military front, according to sources cited by the report.

The administration is nevertheless increasing support for Saudi Arabia. According to Axios, Washington is prepared to provide Riyadh with intelligence and targeting information on the Houthis. About 200 US military personnel are already in Saudi Arabia providing what a US official described as non-kinetic support.

A senior Trump administration official told Axios that Washington’s immediate priority was maintaining freedom of navigation rather than directly joining the Saudi-Houthi fight.

“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,” the official said.

Perim is a small volcanic island located inside the Bab el-Mandeb. Its position gives whoever holds it a strategically important location near one of the world’s busiest maritime chokepoints.

The Houthi capture of Perim, together with their reported advance into Dhubab on the Yemeni mainland, puts the group on both sides of the southern approach to the Red Sea. That does not mean the Houthis now control the entire Bab el-Mandeb, but it gives them a stronger position from which to threaten or disrupt shipping through the waterway.

Reuters reported that the Houthis’ advance could provide Iran with another source of leverage in its conflict with the United States, particularly while shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains severely disrupted.

The stakes are particularly high for Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on its Red Sea infrastructure to move crude as the conflict around Hormuz has disrupted the kingdom’s traditional export routes.

The country’s East-West oil pipeline carries crude from its oil-producing areas in the east to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, allowing Saudi Arabia to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

That alternative route could now face pressure from the other side of the Arabian Peninsula.

Reuters reported on Friday that satellite imagery showed black smoke near the East-West pipeline. However, there was no confirmation from Saudi authorities that the pipeline had been attacked or damaged. Saudi government officials and state oil company Aramco did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The timing is significant. The International Energy Agency said on Friday that Saudi crude supply fell by 2.3 million barrels per day in August to 6 million bpd, its lowest level in more than three decades. Reuters reported that attacks on ships transiting the Bab el-Mandeb by groups linked to the Houthis contributed to the disruption.

Oil prices were on track to record a weekly gain of more than 8%, with Brent crude having moved above $100 a barrel amid concerns over supply disruptions.

The Houthi advance also follows a series of attacks on Saudi Arabia.

On September 8, Houthi forces launched attacks on southern Saudi Arabia, with Saudi authorities saying 73 people were wounded. The attacks also affected energy infrastructure, according to Saudi authorities and reports cited by Reuters.

The escalation has increased pressure on Riyadh because the Houthis are no longer simply threatening Saudi territory from Yemen; they are also targeting the kingdom’s energy infrastructure and shipping routes.

That helps explain why Saudi Arabia is now seeking greater US backing even though it had previously insisted that it could handle the Houthi threat without direct American military intervention.

The current Saudi-Houthi confrontation intensified in July after Saudi Arabia blocked an Iranian aircraft carrying senior Houthi officials from landing in Sanaa, according to Axios.

The Houthi delegation had travelled to Iran for the funeral of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The aircraft was operated by Mahan Air, which the US has sanctioned and which Washington has accused of supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a US official cited by Axios.

Saudi Arabia subsequently struck Sanaa airport after the aircraft’s return journey, according to the Axios account. The Houthis retaliated with missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia and threatened further attacks on Saudi airports.

In July, Trump backed the Saudi decision to strike the Houthis, according to an earlier Axios report. At that point, however, Riyadh had indicated that it could manage the confrontation itself.

The latest appeal to Trump therefore represents a significant change.

The Houthi advance is also part of a broader regional confrontation between Iran and the United States.

Reuters reported this week that the Houthis’ rapid offensive along Yemen’s Red Sea coast came with direct guidance from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to Yemeni, Iranian and regional sources.

Two Iranian sources told Reuters that Tehran had instructed the Houthis to intensify attacks on Saudi Arabia and had promised additional funding, weapons and senior officers to assist them. Iran publicly denies directing the Houthis and says they are an ally rather than a proxy.

The significance of the Houthi advance therefore extends beyond Yemen. Iran already has leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway between the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. A stronger Houthi position at the opposite end of the Arabian Peninsula could give Tehran another pressure point over international shipping and the energy supplies of US allies in the Gulf.

The territorial gains also threaten to undo a fragile period of relative calm in Yemen.

A UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted years of major fighting between the Houthis and forces supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government. The latest offensive has now reopened the possibility of a wider war.

Yemeni government forces have said they intend to launch a counter-offensive to retake territory seized by the Houthis along the Red Sea coast, including areas around Mocha and the Hanish Islands, according to Reuters. Government military officials have urged civilians to avoid roads leading towards Houthi-held areas.

The Houthis captured Mocha, another strategically located Red Sea port, earlier this week. The city lies roughly 80 km from the Bab el-Mandeb and gave the group an important position on the approach to the strait.

The capture of Mocha, followed by the reported seizure of Perim and Dhubab, represents a rapid southward expansion of Houthi-held territory.

For Washington, the immediate concern is avoiding another military front while US forces remain focused on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. US officials have told their Saudi counterparts that Trump’s directive is to keep American forces focused on Iran and avoid opening another front, Axios reported.

Trump’s refusal to order strikes does not mean Washington has stepped back from supporting Riyadh. The US is instead providing intelligence and targeting assistance to Saudi Arabia, while US personnel are not participating directly in strikes, Reuters and CNN reported.

For Saudi Arabia, the Houthi advance creates a more immediate security challenge. The group has moved towards Bab el-Mandeb, a chokepoint that matters to both global shipping and the kingdom’s efforts to move oil through the Red Sea while traffic through Hormuz remains disrupted.

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