Houthis push for Red Sea heights as Trump cancels Yemen airstrikes

UN reports 125,000 displaced in Yemen since September 1

Houthi fighters are moving to seize strategic heights in Yemen that would cut the Red Sea coast off from areas held by Saudi-backed forces, with the advance coming after US President Donald Trump called off planned airstrikes at the last minute, The Guardian reported.

The reversal followed a call from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who implored Trump to step in to halt the Houthi advance after weeks of appeals, the New York Times reported. Trump had told the Pentagon to prepare for airstrikes before reversing course once again, with The Guardian reporting the reversal came as bombs were being loaded onto aircraft.

The Iran-aligned Houthis have gained control over much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast from Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and are advancing to areas adjacent to the Bab al-Mandab strait, which Saudi Arabia has used as an alternative route for oil exports when the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted, The Guardian reported.

Fighting has centered on the outskirts of the remote Al-Wazi’iyah district in Taiz province and Ras al-Ara along the Indian Ocean coast, both of which separate the Red Sea coast from the city of Aden, where the Yemeni government is based, The Guardian reported. The Houthis aim to secure the rear of their forces around the Bab al-Mandab strait by taking control of the mountains, which would also allow them to open new fronts, according to sources who spoke to Reuters.

The humanitarian toll has mounted quickly. The UN says hostilities in Yemen have displaced at least 125,000 people since the start of September, with Taiz city absorbing the largest share at up to 86,000 displaced Yemenis since the recent escalation began.

Trump has frequently given mixed signals to Riyadh. During a visit to Ireland earlier this month, he told reporters the Houthis “called us, and they don’t want to fight us,” adding that the group was “allowing ships to pass” the Bab al-Mandab strait and that the situation would “work out very well.” He described the Houthi problem as limited to “one country” — an apparent reference to Saudi Arabia — promising to “take care of fixing that.”

The latest reversal left Trump making no direct pledge of military support during a Sunday call with Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi, who leads the UN-recognized government, sources told The Guardian. The rapid Houthi advance this month has extended the wider Middle East conflict to a new theater and further threatened global energy supplies.

On Saturday, the Houthis claimed they had fired on Riyadh, where columns of smoke were visible near the main airport. Saudi Arabia has launched hundreds of strikes in recent days on Houthi positions in the strategic Kahboub mountains, according to the group, but with little impact on the advance of its fighters, The Guardian reported. Washington has so far rebuffed repeated pleas from Prince Mohammed to join the fight in Yemen.

The US bombed the Houthis for two months in early 2025, but Trump called off those strikes after reaching a ceasefire with the group and has kept out of the conflict since. The surge in fighting has created a new dilemma for Trump, who is under pressure to help defend Washington’s close Saudi allies but anxious not to further expand the war he launched in February against Iran — a war The Guardian characterizes as deeply unpopular.

With US midterm elections looming and amid what The Guardian describes as the broad failure of the US-Israeli war against Iran, the Trump administration’s priorities appear to be securing at least some oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz while avoiding a wider entanglement in Yemen.

That posture, however, invites longer-term risks. Washington’s Gulf allies, including Saudi Arabia, are increasingly seen as being abandoned by an unreliable United States, a perception that could undermine the so-called “security for oil” understanding under which the US provides a defense umbrella for Gulf states in exchange for energy supplies, The Guardian reported.

Reuters contributed to this report.