Frustration grows as Houthis widen Middle East conflict with US unwilling to intervene

Houthi Military Media/Handout/Reuters

Dramatic recent advances by the Iran-backed Houthis , including the seizure of a strategically important island in the Red Sea, have dealt another blow to a region reeling from the US war with Iran and exacerbated an already severe global energy crisis. But neither the US nor its key ally Saudi Arabia has a clear plan to beat back the group, multiple sources told CNN, leading many in the region to ask where the counteroffensive will come from.

Although US officials acknowledge the Yemeni rebel group is advancing with the goal of ultimately asserting control over the critical Bab al Mandeb Strait, the Trump administration is signaling it has little interest in using the American military to stop them – relying instead on Saudi Arabia to do so.

But even with additional US intelligence and targeting support, Saudi Arabia has not been able to effectively stop the Houthis from taking key coastal towns in Yemen, frustrating Gulf and American officials. Sources who spoke with CNN expressed doubt that the Saudis would be able to stop the Houthis on their own.

The Houthis moves have not come as a surprise to sources in the region, as well as former diplomats, who said the weaknesses of the Saudi-backed Yemeni forces were well-known. For months US intelligence reports indicated the group would attempt to close another key waterway for commercial shipping as Iran did earlier this year, US officials said.

Still, the US believes it is currently providing Saudi Arabia with everything it needs to be successful against the Houthis, one American official told CNN, referring to the recent increase in sharing intelligence support and sharing of targeting data support with the Kingdom. And after about a decade of training the Yemen government’s military, the Kingdom had assured US officials that they were confident in their ability, two sources told CNN.

Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces started fighting the Houthis, who are supported and trained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), more than a decade ago during Yemen’s brutal civil war. A 2022 UN-brokered truce had brought a period of relatively low levels of hostilities between the two sides.

However, the fighting has resumed and intensified in recent weeks. The Saudis accused the Houthis of targeting Mecca , Islam’s holiest city, and the Houthis claim to have shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet.

President Donald Trump has made clear that his current red line is direct US participation in kinetic strikes against the Houthis. To date, US military support has been strictly providing intel and targeting data for Saudi strikes.

“No offensive strikes,” said a US official.

Multiple Gulf and US sources say messaging from Trump signals to the Iranians he is unwilling to back US allies in the region.

“The Houthis called us and they don’t want to fight with us,” Trump said in remarks to reporters in Ireland last weekend. “They don’t want us to go after them and would much prefer not having us involved and they’re letting most ships go through.”

“It’s just one country they’re not too happy with,” Trump said, referring to Saudi Arabia, “and we’ll get that straightened out.”

Barbara Leaf, a former US diplomat who worked throughout the Middle East called Trump’s own comments about the Houthis “shocking.”

“It’s a pretty harsh way to treat your relationship with a close partner, to appear to privilege your agreement with a group you’ve designated as an (foreign terrorist organization) that attacked that partner,” she told CNN. The administration designated the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in March 2025.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke twice with Trump last week to ask for US strikes against the Houthis. That request, so far, has been rebuffed and sources said it is hard to tell if the administration policy will shift.

Amid this frustration over the Houthis advances, many Gulf sources believe the offensive represents a new front in the Iran war that could prolong the conflict. Despite some efforts to deal with the issues separately, sources increasingly believe there is unlikely to be progress on Iran without dealing with the Houthis.

“The Houthis’ Red Sea push is emboldening the IRGC. The Saudis have to get this fixed, otherwise they are negotiating with a gun on the table and they won’t do that,” said Joey Hood, a former US ambassador who spent much of his career working in the Middle East.

Hood, like other sources, noted that although the Houthis claim their fight is just with Saudis, there is a clear nexus to Iran.

“Iran is in an existential battle now and pulling on all of their proxies to fight. The Houthis are not remote-controlled by Iran but they need fuel from them. So, the Houthi statements of why they are carrying out this offensive now are not a complete reflection of reality,” said Hood.

The situation in Yemen has complicated the other negotiations, including those over the Strait of Hormuz.

A first meeting between Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Iran since the US-Iran war began was canceled earlier this week. Saudi Arabia decided not to attend amid concerns around the language of a potential agreement between Oman and Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz and other Gulf countries followed suit. Regional sources said it was a clear signal that the Kingdom sees no upside to engaging with the Iranians amid active Houthi attacks.

“Due to the Houthi attacks and the situation near the Bab-el-Mandeb corridor, it’s affecting the Strait of Hormuz deal,” a regional source told CNN. “The Saudis are demanding an all-or-nothing approach, which is understandable, but it delays the process.”

For about a decade, the Saudis have been training Yemen’s military, and so far, those forces have been unable to effectively push back the Houthis. Saudi strikes, backed by US intelligence and precision targeting, have prevented the militia from exercising a firm command over some of the territory they have taken, but advances have not been wholly rebuffed.

The highest levels of the US government largely ignored the Houthi threat over the last decade despite lower-level US officials and regional players urging closer attention to the rebel group as it grew stronger, sources said. Last year’s US military campaign against the Houthis also laid bare the limits of American firepower – as months of bombing failed to effectively dislodge the group’s foothold inside Yemen and ended with an abrupt US-Houthi ceasefire.

The US “solidified the ceasefire” with the Houthis during a meeting in Oman this weekend, the US official said – a message that underscores the administration’s unwillingness to get involved.

“The Americans sent a message,” a senior Houthi official familiar with the matter told CNN Thursday, “that they don’t want to join the Saudis and be part of the conflict.”

“We received this message positively,” the source added.

There was a perception that Saudi Arabia’s own firepower coupled with its investment in Yemen’s military could counterbalance the Houthis’ offenses, some current and former US officials say. That expectation has not panned out.

Yemeni Armed Forces Media Center/Handout/Reuters

Others say the Houthi successes are hardly surprising, especially given unity of the militia and Iran’s support.

“The Houthis have the advantage of having this really deep and productive relationship with the (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) which has trained them and taken them up several notches from the hard-scrabble kind of cave fighters that they were 12 years ago to a force that can really be quite devastating,” said Leaf, who was a former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.

“The Houthi have spent a lot of time in the last months preparing their forces for just this kind of move,” she continued. “They punched through the Saudi-aligned and Yemeni government-aligned forces, not surprisingly, just punched through them – the forces just disintegrated.”

“No one wants to fight alone,” said a current Gulf official. “Either the Saudis fight or they cut a deal with the Houthis.”

But as it becomes clear that the Saudi-backed government will need more resources to take on the Houthis, the kingdom is also spread thin as they manage a wide array of challenges resulting from the ongoing war: a recent strike on their East-West pipeline, working with the US military on enabling tanker traffic through the strait, and keeping open a land-bridge to move critical resources through the region.

Saudi Arabia also cut oil exports to Europe for the month of September in recent days, triggering a recognition that the global energy crisis could deepen.

An effective pushback at the hands of Saudi-backed forces in Yemen is likely to require additional boots on the ground from Saudi Arabia or elsewhere, and a projection of commitment from the US, sources said. But neither of those inputs seem likely.

“At least the possibility of US involvement needs to hang over everyone to act as a deterrent, if you just unnecessarily wipe that away its demoralizing particularly to the Yemenis on the ground,” another regional source said.

Leaf said she has not heard exasperation with the Saudis from officials in the region, but rather questions of “What the hell is the US going to do here?”

Gulf and US sources have also expressed doubts about whether the Houthi escalation can actually be entirely resolved militarily.

“They have been trying for years” to defeat the Houthis, the regional source said, noting that military action “will weaken them, yes, but will not end them.”

CNN’s Nadeen Ebrahim contributed reporting.

胡塞武装媒体/供稿/路透社

近期，伊朗支持的胡塞武装取得了一系列重大进展，包括夺取红海一座具有重要战略意义的岛屿，这无疑给本已因美伊战争而饱受打击的地区雪上加霜，并加剧了本已严峻的全球能源危机。但据CNN报道，多位消息人士透露，美国及其主要盟友沙特阿拉伯目前尚无明确的反击计划，这令该地区许多人不禁质疑，胡塞武装的反击究竟会从何而来。

尽管美国官员承认也门反叛组织正在推进，其最终目标是控制至关重要的曼德海峡，但特朗普政府表示，它对动用美国军队阻止他们几乎没有兴趣，而是依靠沙特阿拉伯来做到这一点。

但即便有了美国提供的额外情报和目标打击支持，沙特阿拉伯也未能有效阻止胡塞武装占领也门沿海重要城镇，这令海湾国家和美国官员感到沮丧。接受CNN采访的消息人士表示，他们怀疑沙特能否仅凭一己之力阻止胡塞武装。

胡塞武装的举动并未令该地区的消息人士和前外交官感到意外，他们表示，沙特支持的也门军队的弱点早已是公开的秘密。美国官员称，数月以来，美国情报报告一直显示，该组织企图像伊朗今年早些时候那样，封锁另一条重要的商业航道。

尽管如此，一位美国官员告诉CNN，美国相信目前已向沙特阿拉伯提供了打击胡塞武装所需的一切支持，他指的是近期与沙特在情报支持和目标数据支持方面共享力度的加大。另据CNN报道，两位消息人士透露，在对也门政府军进行了近十年的训练后，沙特方面已向美国官员保证，他们对也门军队的能力充满信心。

十多年前，在也门残酷的内战期间，由沙特阿拉伯支持的也门政府军开始与胡塞武装交战。胡塞武装则得到伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队（IRGC）的支持和训练。2022年，在联合国斡旋下达成的停火协议使双方之间的敌对行动减少了一段时间。

然而，近几周来，战斗再次爆发并愈演愈烈。沙特指责胡塞武装袭击伊斯兰教圣城麦加，而胡塞武装则声称击落了一架沙特F-15战斗机。

唐纳德·特朗普总统已明确表示，他目前的底线是美国直接参与对胡塞武装的军事打击。迄今为止，美国军方提供的支持仅限于为沙特打击行动提供情报和目标数据。

一位美国官员表示：“不会发动进攻性打击。”

多位海湾地区和美国消息人士称，特朗普发出的信息向伊朗表明，他不愿意支持美国在该地区的盟友。

特朗普上周末在爱尔兰对记者说：“胡塞武装给我们打了电话，他们不想和我们打仗。他们不想让我们对他们采取行动，更希望我们不要卷入其中，而且他们允许大多数船只通过。”

“他们只是对沙特阿拉伯这个国家不太满意而已，”特朗普说，“我们会解决这个问题。”

曾在美国担任外交官、在中东地区工作多年的芭芭拉·利夫称特朗普对胡塞武装的评论“令人震惊”。

她告诉CNN：“这种对待亲密伴侣关系的方式相当苛刻，似乎是为了维护你与一个被你认定为（外国恐怖组织）的团体达成的协议，而这个团体却袭击了你的伴侣。”美国政府于2025年3月将胡塞武装列为外国恐怖组织。

沙特王储穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼上周两次与特朗普通话，要求美国对胡塞武装发动空袭。迄今为止，这一请求均遭到拒绝，消息人士称，目前很难判断美国政府的政策是否会改变。

在对胡塞武装推进感到沮丧之际，许多海湾消息人士认为，此次攻势标志着伊朗战争开辟了新的战线，可能会延长冲突。尽管各方曾尝试将伊朗问题分开处理，但消息人士越来越相信，如果不解决胡塞武装问题，伊朗问题不太可能取得进展。

“胡塞武装在红海的攻势正在鼓舞伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队。沙特人必须解决这个问题，否则他们就等于带着枪谈判，他们不会这么做的，”曾在美国担任大使、职业生涯大部分时间都在中东工作的乔伊·胡德说道。

胡德和其他消息来源一样指出，虽然胡塞武装声称他们的战斗只是与沙特阿拉伯的斗争，但显然与伊朗有联系。

胡德说：“伊朗现在正面临生死存亡的考验，正调动所有代理人参战。胡塞武装并非受伊朗遥控，但他们需要伊朗的支持。因此，胡塞武装对其发动此次攻势原因的解释并不能完全反映事实。”

也门局势使其他谈判变得复杂，包括霍尔木兹海峡的谈判。

本周早些时候，海湾合作委员会（GCC）成员国与伊朗自美伊战争爆发以来的首次会晤被取消。沙特阿拉伯决定不出席，原因是其对阿曼与伊朗之间可能达成的开放霍尔木兹海峡协议的措辞表示担忧，其他海湾国家也纷纷效仿。地区消息人士称，这清楚地表明，在胡塞武装持续发动袭击的情况下，沙特认为与伊朗接触没有任何好处。

一位地区消息人士告诉CNN：“由于胡塞武装的袭击以及曼德海峡走廊附近的局势，霍尔木兹海峡协议正在受到影响。沙特方面要求采取要么全盘接受要么全盘拒绝的立场，这可以理解，但这会拖延进程。”

近十年来，沙特阿拉伯一直在训练也门军队，但迄今为止，这些部队仍未能有效击退胡塞武装。在美军情报和精确打击的支持下，沙特发动的空袭阻止了胡塞武装对其占领的部分地区行使绝对控制权，但胡塞武装的推进并未被完全遏制。

消息人士称，过去十年间，尽管美国低级别官员和地区各方人士不断敦促美国政府密切关注日益壮大的胡塞武装，但美国政府高层却在很大程度上忽视了胡塞武装的威胁。去年美国对胡塞武装的军事行动也暴露了美军火力的局限性——数月的轰炸未能有效清除胡塞武装在也门的立足点，最终以美胡突然停火告终。

一位美国官员表示，美国本周末在阿曼举行的一次会议上“巩固了与胡塞武装的停火协议”——这一信息凸显了美国政府不愿介入的立场。

一位熟悉此事的胡塞武装高级官员周四告诉 CNN：“美国人发出了一个信息，那就是他们不想加入沙特阿拉伯的阵营，也不想卷入这场冲突。”

“我们对这一信息表示赞同，”消息人士补充道。

一些现任和前任美国官员表示，人们曾认为沙特阿拉伯自身的火力以及其对也门军事的投入能够抵消胡塞武装的攻势。但这种预期并未实现。

也门武装部队媒体中心/供图/路透社

另一些人则认为，胡塞武装的成功并不令人意外，尤其考虑到该民兵组织的团结以及伊朗的支持。

“胡塞武装的优势在于他们与伊斯兰革命卫队建立了非常深入且富有成效的关系，伊斯兰革命卫队训练了他们，并将他们从12年前那种艰苦卓绝的穴居战士提升到了如今这支极具破坏力的力量，”曾任美国助理国务卿（负责近东事务）的利夫说道。

她继续说道：“胡塞武装在过去几个月里花了大量时间为这种行动做准备。不出所料，他们突破了沙特支持的部队和也门政府支持的部队，这些部队瞬间溃败。”

一位海湾地区官员表示：“没有人愿意孤军奋战。要么沙特参战，要么他们与胡塞武装达成协议。”

但随着沙特支持的政府显然需要更多资源来对抗胡塞武装，沙特王国也疲于应对持续战争带来的各种挑战：最近东西输油管道遭到袭击、与美国军方合作以确保油轮能够通过海峡通行，以及保持陆路通道畅通以运输该地区的关键资源。

沙特阿拉伯近日也削减了9月份对欧洲的石油出口，这引发了人们对全球能源危机可能加剧的担忧。

消息人士称，沙特支持的也门部队要想有效反击，可能需要沙特阿拉伯或其他国家增派地面部队，并需要美国展现出相应的决心。但这两点似乎都不太可能。

另一位地区消息人士表示：“至少美国介入的可能性需要一直萦绕在每个人心头，起到威慑作用。如果你不必要地抹去这种可能性，会打击士气，尤其对也门当地民众而言。”

利夫表示，她没有听到该地区官员对沙特阿拉伯表示不满，而是听到他们质疑“美国到底要在这里做什么？”

海湾国家和美国方面也对胡塞武装的冲突升级是否能够完全通过军事手段解决表示怀疑。

这位地区消息人士称，“他们多年来一直在努力”击败胡塞武装，并指出军事行动“确实会削弱他们，但不会彻底消灭他们”。

CNN记者纳丁·易卜拉欣对此报道亦有贡献。