Trump says Houthis agree not to fight US, as attacks mount against Saudi allies: Fox News

Houthi troopers standing guard during a protest against Saudi Arabia in Sana'a, Yemen, on Sept 18.

Washington – US President Donald Trump said on Sept 20 that Yemen’s Houthis have agreed not to attack the United States, despite the Iran-allied group stepping up its war against US ally Saudi Arabia, Fox News reported.

The network’s reporter Trey Yingst, who often talks to Trump, cited the President saying that Washington is “in constant communication with the Houthis and that they’ve agreed not to fight the United States”.

Trump has made the claim before that the Houthis are holding back from attacking US forces in the region.

“The Houthis called us and they don’t want to fight with us,” Trump said during a visit to Ireland on Sept 12. “They don’t want us to go after them.”

But the latest comments to Fox News came as close US ally Saudi Arabia is under growing pressure, with a missile targeting the capital Riyadh on Sept 19.

The Houthis have also staged a rapid offensive inside Yemen, seizing swaths of territory from the internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.

Fox News reported that Trump is in “deciding mode” on Iran, where US and Israeli forces launched a massive aerial bombing campaign on Feb 28 before settling into a now almost-seven-month stand-off.

Yingst said Trump told him that “big things will be happening in the not-so-distant future” and that “Iranians better behave, and he is making this decision as to whether or not to blow up their nation”. AFP