Yemen’s Houthi militants carried out a deadly attack on U.S. ally Saudi Arabia Saturday that killed at least 12 people and injured more than 300, but the looming midterms will likely limit the Trump administration’s response, according to conflict analyst Hisham Al-Omeisy.
“Fortunately, I don’t see them rushing for major action,” Al-Omeisy, senior Yemen adviser at the European Institute of Peace, told Al Jazeera for its report published Sunday. “The last thing the administration needs is getting stuck in another quagmire in the region, especially with what’s happening in Hormuz that has not been resolved yet.”
Saturday’s attack saw the Iran-backed Houthis strike Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, which the group previously struck last week and last month. Trump told reporters on Saturday that his administration “may” retaliate against the Houthis militarily, but according to Al-Omeisy, that was unlikely given the administration’s unresolved conflict with Iran, which continues to keep fuel prices elevated heading into the midterms.
The Houthis have continued their campaign to exert more control over the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical global shipping chokepoint in the Red Sea, much like the Strait of Hormuz. The group announced a blockade on all Saudi oil exports transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait in July, one that its territorial gains have only made stronger in recent weeks.
Even if the Trump administration were to move forward with strikes against the Houthis, such efforts would prove futile, warned F. Gregory Gause, a Saudi specialist at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C.
“The only realistic solution for the Saudis is an end to the Iranian-American war, in which the U.S. gets the Iranians to commit the Houthis to an end of hostilities as part of the overall deal,” Gause told The New York Times Sunday. “Unfortunately for the Saudis, it is not clear how much President Trump listens to them on this.”
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