Iran is beating a retreat from Yemen, where it has backed the Houthi rebels, who in turn have launched missiles and drones against Israel, and have also attacked international shipping in the Red Sea, as well as western naval vessels.

The reason: U.S. President Donald Trump has launched a relentless assault on the Houthis while also restoring a “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions that makes it impossible for Iran to sustain its overseas terror proxies.

The UK Telegraph reported on Thursday:

Iran has ordered military personnel to leave Yemen, abandoning its Houthi allies as the US escalates an air strike campaign against the rebel group.

A senior Iranian official said the move aimed to avoid direct confrontation with the US if an Iranian soldier was killed.

The official said Iran was also scaling back its strategy of supporting a network of regional proxies to focus on the direct threats from the US instead.

Tehran’s primary concern, the source said, was “Trump and how to deal with him”.

President Joe Biden had been reluctant to confront the Houthis. Upon taking office in 2021, he removed the Houthis from a list of terror organization, where Trump had put them. When the Houthis began attacking Israel and global shipping, the U.S. put together a coalition to defend commercial traffic in the Red Sea, but mostly stuck to defensive actions.

Israel took the initiative, launching long-range strikes that sent a message but lacked American firepower.

Trump ordered “powerful” strikes on the Houthis in mid-March, which the U.S. media turned into a scandal over a text message chain among senior defense officials that was also sent to a journalist.