The New York Times reported that the Trump administration had prepared to launch airstrikes on Sunday against the Houthis after fresh pleas from the Saudi crown prince. But the newspaper said Trump called off the airstrikes at the last minute, even as troops were loading bombs onto aircraft. Rashid al-Alimi, the Riyadh-based president of Yemen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government, asked Trump by phone on Sunday for US military help. Riyadh was apparently struck on Saturday for the first time since the escalation began, with explosions heard and smoke visible near the airport. The Houthis said they had fired missiles at the Saudi capital; the Saudis have not commented., The Houthis, who have controlled Yemen’s capital since 2014, seized the country’s Red Sea coast this month in an advance that routed forces of the Saudi-backed government.
Saudi Arabia has launched hundreds of strikes in recent days on the fighters’ positions in the highlands, the Houthis say. According to the United Nations, nearly 700 people have been killed and thousands injured in the fighting. Nearly 130,000 Yemenis have fled homes within Yemen, and more than 3,000 have fled by boat across the Red Sea to Africa. Five Yemeni military sources reported the Houthis were now seeking to seize strategic heights, known as the Kahboub Mountains, in two provinces, Taiz and Lahij, which separate the Red Sea coast from the government-held south. Fighting has centred on the outskirts of the remote mountain Al-Wazi’iyah district in Taiz province, and Ras al-Ara along the Indian Ocean coast between the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the Red Sea’s mouth and the government’s base in Aden, the sources said.
“The government forces appear to remain largely in a defensive posture following the loss of the Bab el-Mandeb area, while the Houthis are seeking to maintain the momentum of their advance, despite being exposed to intensive air strikes,” said Mohammed Al-Qadhi, a veteran Yemeni journalist now working as a political analyst.
“These mountains could become critical to determining whether the Houthis succeed in consolidating their recent territorial gains or whether government forces will be able to retain the positions necessary to mount a counteroffensive.” Diplomacy in the wider conflict has largely been stalled since a June interim ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran collapsed within weeks. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian is due to fly on Tuesday to New York to attend the UN General Assembly.