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US President Donald Trump supported Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's request for assistance before Riyadh initiated military operations against Iran-backed Houthi targets in Yemen, according to an Axios report citing two US officials.
The report stated that the Saudi Crown Prince informed Trump before the operation and sought Washington's endorsement for the action. The move followed intensifying concerns in Riyadh regarding Houthi operations and a contested Iranian flight to Yemen. This latest confrontation threatens to disrupt a fragile truce that has substantially held since 2022, despite having officially expired. The current friction was triggered after an aircraft reportedly operated by Iran's Mahan Air landed in Houthi-controlled Sanaa. The flight carried a Houthi delegation travelling to Iran for the funeral of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Saudi Arabia resisted the flight, reportedly over concerns that it could be utilised to transport weaponry, missile components or Iranian military personnel to the Houthis. The US officials quoted by Axios described Mahan Air as an airline linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). When the aircraft subsequently attempted to return, Saudi forces targeted Sanaa airport, forcing the plane to divert and land in Al Hudaydah on Yemen's Red Sea coast. The Riyadh-backed Yemeni government stated that the strike was designed to prevent an Iranian aircraft from utilising Yemeni territory. Following the attack on Sanaa airport, Yemen's Houthis executed missile and drone strikes targeting Saudi Arabia's Abha airport in the kingdom's southwest. The group stated that the operation was conducted in retaliation for what it termed Saudi aggression. Furthermore, Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree issued a warning to airlines against flying through Saudi airspace, noting that the restriction would remain active until limitations on Sanaa airport were removed. This escalation comes amid broader regional anxieties, with the United States and Iran locked in a renewed confrontation. Saudi Arabia established a military coalition in Yemen in 2015 to support the internationally recognised government against the Houthis. The subsequent conflict has claimed thousands of lives and plunged Yemen into one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises. Presently, the Houthis retain control over the capital, Sanaa, alongside much of northern Yemen, including several major population centres, while the government maintains authority over extensive areas in the south. (ANI)
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