WASHINGTON — President Trump said the United States could join Saudi Arabia in retaliatory strikes against the Houthis after the Iran-backed group launched what officials described as its deadliest attack on Riyadh and threatened further assaults on civilian areas.
A Houthi spokesperson said over the weekend that airports had become “a theatre of operations for our forces,” calling on people to “take our warnings seriously.” The spokesperson also accused Saudi Arabia of being “responsible for any failed interceptions.”
Trump had appeared reluctant to target the Yemen-based group, in part because the Houthis seemed to be honoring a May cease-fire commitment not to attack ships in the Red Sea. The administration has also sought to avoid becoming further entangled in a complicated conflict that began before the war involving Iran.
Asked Saturday whether the United States might take part in Saudi military action, Trump replied, “We may. We’re going to look at it.”
“We just found out about the recent attack, so we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly,” he told reporters.
Trump later called the assault “terrible,” adding that Saudi forces are “good fighters” but that the attack represented a serious escalation. “We have communication with the Houthis, and we’ll see what happens,” he said. “But what they did was very bad.”
Any US decision to support Saudi Arabia’s response to the deadly strike on King Khalid International Airport could significantly expand the Middle East conflict involving Iran and its regional proxies.
The Houthi assault on Saturday killed 12 people, including one American and nationals from the Palestinian territories, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Sudan and Bangladesh. More than 300 others were wounded.
The attack prompted broad international condemnation of the Houthi movement.
FIND OUT MORE: Man Fatally Mauled by Tiger After Posing in UK Wildlife Enclosure
“The United States strongly condemns the recent attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the terrorist Houthis,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday.
Rubio described the strikes as “reprehensible,” saying they showed “a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life.” He called for the attacks to end immediately and said the United States stood with Saudi Arabia and its people while offering condolences to the victims’ families.
Relations between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, home to roughly 35 million people, have deteriorated sharply in recent weeks. Riyadh reportedly intercepted a drone near the Islamic holy city of Mecca last month, an incident that provoked outrage across the Muslim world.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has reportedly urged Trump to launch military action against the Houthis, as the United States did from March through May this year.
The Houthis say Saudi Arabia has already carried out two retaliatory airstrikes on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.
The Houthi-run Health Ministry says approximately 91 Yemenis have been killed and 168 wounded during Saudi-led coalition operations against the group over the past five weeks.
The confrontation between Riyadh and the Houthis is rooted largely in Yemen’s civil war. Saudi Arabia, which shares a southern border with Yemen, has long supported the internationally recognized Yemeni government, whose base is predominantly Sunni Muslim.
Iran has backed the Houthis, a Shia Muslim movement that seized control of Sanaa in 2014. Saudi Arabia intervened militarily the following year, seeking to restore the internationally recognized government to power.
The two sides have continued to clash intermittently ever since.
