Iran ‘pulls out of Yemen, abandons Houthis’

Iran is withdrawing its military from Yemen, amid concerns it would be forced into direct confrontation with the US if one of its soldiers was killed in a strike on the rebel Houthi group.

Yemenis assess the damage following US strikes on Hodeidah province. Picture: AFP.

Iran is reportedly pulling out of Yemen as the US continues to launch massive strikes on areas held by the rebel Houthi militia group and tensions ratchet up between Washington and Tehran.

The Iranian military is being withdrawn as Tehran becomes increasingly concerned it would be forced into a direct confrontation with the US if one of its soldiers was killed in an airstrike on Houthi positions.

The move means Tehran has essentially abandoned its Houthi allies, who depend heavily on Iranian funds and arms for their attacks on Israel and shipping in the Red Sea.

A senior Iranian official told the UK Telegraph that Tehran was also scaling back its support for regional proxies such as Hamas to focus on direct threats from the US.

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

“Every meeting is dominated by discussions about him, and none of the regional groups we previously supported are being discussed,” the source said.

An aircraft launches from the USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea before air strikes in Sanaa, Yemen. Picture: US Navy via AFP.

The US launched an air campaign against the Houthis on March 15 and has continued daily strikes around the Yemeni capital of San’a and other locations, targeting the group’s leaders and military assets.

On Thursday (AEDT) the Houthis said a US strike had killed a guard at a communications tower, with more than 30 strikes being carried out on rebel-held parts of the country.

In a video statement, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the US had launched “over the past few hours more than 36 airstrikes” in different parts of the country.

The Iranian official told the Telegraph: “The view here is that the Houthis will not be able to survive and are living their final months, or even days, so there is no point in keeping them on our list.

“They were part of a chain that relied on (Hassan) Nasrallah (the former secretary-general of Hezbollah) and Assad, and keeping only one part of that chain for the future makes no sense.”

Donald Trump has threatened in recent days to bomb Iran if Tehran doesn’t make a deal to roll back its nuclear program. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has warned of a “strong response” if the country is attacked.

Earlier this week, the Tehran Times, regarded as mouthpiece for the regime, reported that the country’s missiles were “loaded and ready to launch” in the event of any attack on its nuclear sites, in a threat which the White House said Mr Trump “doesn’t take kindly” to.

In recent days the Pentagon has started to expand its forces in the Middle East as it steps up pressure on Iran and the Houthis, adding more warship and planes to its carrier strike group in the region.

Washington has also sent two stealth B-2 bombers to the US-UK Diego Garcia military base in the Chagos Islands.

Iran’s two other main proxies in the region, Hezbollah and Hamas, have been severely weakened by Israeli attacks, with senior leaders assassinated or killed in airstrikes.

Tehran’s failure to defend Syria’s former president Bashar al-Assad against a lightning rebel strike in December was a further sign of weakness – particularly following Iran’s ineffective missile strikes on Israel last year.

The Houthis’ campaign of attacks on merchant vessels over the past two years has prompted a number of shipping firms to avoid the route through the Red Sea and Suez Canal that normally carries about 12 per cent of world maritime traffic.

The costs of the resulting detour around the tip of southern Africa have been a factor in pushing up world prices.

With AFP