British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is considering a request from Saudi Arabia to assist in its war against Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Sources told the outlet that the UK has received requests for a range of military and diplomatic support and that Riyadh seeks help pushing back the Ansar Allah advance on the Red Sea coast and in defending its oil infrastructure from missile and drone attacks. The sources said that Burnham doesn’t want to appear to be too supportive of President Trump’s war with Iran, which is very unpopular in the UK.
The report said the UK fears Ansar Allah’s control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could severely affect shipping and global oil prices, though senior Ansar Allah officials say their blockade still applies only to Saudi shipping. Back in 2024, the UK joined a US bombing campaign against Ansar Allah, which led to attacks on US and British commercial shipping and failed to stop Yemeni attacks on Israeli-linked shipping.
The UK has approved the deployment of military advisors to Saudi Arabia to assist in the war but hasn’t ordered any direct military intervention. The US has reportedly declined to launch direct strikes against Ansar Allah, but it is deeply involved in the war, as it reportedly has up to 200 troops in Saudi Arabia assisting with intelligence and targeting.
In the face of the Ansar Allah advance, Saudi Arabia has also requested help from Israel, according to a report from Israel Hayom. The report said Riyadh requested intelligence and other types of support through US Central Command.
The war between Saudi Arabia and Ansar Allah had been in a state of ceasefire since 2022 and was reignited by Saudi airstrikes on the Sanaa International Airport on July 13, an attack carried out to prevent a plane from landing that was carrying a Yemeni delegation who attended the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran.
