Iran Warns Saudi Arabia as Houthis Intensify Attacks on Kingdom

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned Saudi Arabia that it will struggle to contain Yemen’s Houthi rebels, as attacks linked to the group raise fresh concerns over regional security and shipping routes.

IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebi said on Thursday that Saudi Arabia would not be able to prevent further attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis, also known as Ansarullah. His comments came amid an escalation in fighting involving the rebels and Saudi-backed forces.

“Saudi Arabia will certainly be unable to contain Yemen and Ansarullah or remain safe from their attacks,” Mohebi told Defa Press, adding that recent events showed that Saudi attacks were being met with further retaliation.

The latest escalation has added another front to the wider Middle East conflict that began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Yemen became directly involved last month, with Houthi forces launching attacks and seeking to disrupt Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea ports.

The renewed fighting also threatens a fragile period of calm in Yemen. The country has endured more than a decade of conflict, while the latest clashes have effectively disrupted a truce reached in 2022 between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed internationally recognised government.

Concerns have also grown over the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, a key maritime passage linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. A Yemeni minister told AFP this week that the Houthis were preparing to seize territory near the waterway, potentially giving the group greater leverage over one of the world’s important shipping routes.

Three Houthi military sources and a spokesman for Yemeni government forces told AFP that the rebels were planning to advance south from their current positions. If confirmed, such a move could further intensify fighting and increase pressure on regional powers to respond.

The developments come as Saudi Arabia faces a growing security challenge on its southern border, while Iran’s warning signals continued regional tensions between Tehran and Riyadh. Any further escalation around Yemen could also have wider consequences for maritime trade and stability across the Red Sea.