Ansar Allah, commonly known as the Houthis, has issued a warning against the US directly intervening in Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, saying that US “interests” in the region would be targeted in response.
The US and Ansar Allah agreed to a ceasefire in May 2025 after a heavy US bombing campaign that lasted about a month and a half and failed to stop the Yemeni blockade on Israeli shipping that was being imposed at the time. According to statements from both sides, that truce remains in place.
“If America dares to intervene militarily with its fleets or tries to take control of Bab el-Mandeb, it is a red line for them and anyone else… we will fight over it,” Abed Mohammed al-Thawr, an Ansar Allah military advisor, told AFP.
“If America gambles on supporting Saudi Arabia with airstrikes or air support… We will consider any American interests around us to be targets, and we will not exclude anything,” al-Thawr added.
Ansar Allah’s current blockade applies only to Saudi Arabia, but al-Thawr warned that if the US directly intervenes, Ansar Allah will “close Bab el-Mandeb completely to American ships.”
The US backed Riyadh’s initial escalation that reignited the war in Yemen, the July 13 airstrikes on the Sanaa International Airport, and is providing Saudi Arabia with intelligence and targeting support, but it has so far stopped short of direct military intervention. President Trump reportedly ordered the Pentagon to prepare to launch strikes after a call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last Thursday, but he reversed the decision on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia has escalated its airstrikes in recent days, and an increasing number of civilians have been killed, but there’s no sign that Riyadh or the ground forces it backs in Yemen are rolling back any of the gains Ansar Allah has made on the ground. Those gains have included taking control of the remainder of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the territory on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
