Trump: “Attacks on Iran could resume” ... Houthis shift position on attacks on Saudi Arabia

[Financial News]  

U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 10th (local time) that he could join Saudi Arabia’s attacks on Yemen’s Houthi rebels. He also hinted at the possibility of resuming attacks on Iran.
The remarks came after the Houthi rebels again attacked King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, that day.

According to Al Jazeera, President Trump told reporters that day, “I just heard about the recent attacks,” and said, “I’ll make a decision.” He went on to say, “We’ll look into (this matter),” signaling that he would decide soon whether to resume attacks on Iran and whether to join Saudi Arabia’s attacks on the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Trump had said on the 8th that he would not attack Iran before the midterm elections on November 3. But as the Houthi rebels continued to provoke Saudi Arabia, he appears to have shifted his position and may be considering resuming attacks, having concluded that Iran was behind the provocations.

According to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), King Khalid International Airport was attacked again, leaving dozens injured.
The pro-Iran Houthi rebels have attacked King Khalid Airport at least three times through that day, after announcing on the 5th that they would launch large-scale attacks targeting Saudi airports, oil refineries and other sites. Houthi spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said on the 5th that they had attacked King Khalid Airport; Aramco’s refinery in Rabigh, a western coastal city; Abha International Airport and a nearby air base in the south; and military facilities in Asir, Najran and Jazan. The group has since claimed to have attacked Riyadh and other locations with ballistic missiles almost every day.
The Houthi rebels have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia since the Saudi-led coalition and Yemeni government forces announced on the 4th that they would retake Yemeni territory held by the Houthis and launched Operation “Yemen’s Dawn.” The Houthis are fighting Yemeni government forces on the ground while retaliating with ballistic missiles and other weapons against Saudi territory, from which Saudi Arabia provides air support to Yemeni forces.

Iran is stepping up attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said a supertanker sailing along an “unauthorized” route in the Strait of Hormuz struck a mine, causing a “massive explosion.”
According to Iran’s state-run Tasnim news agency, the IRGC said in a statement that the tanker struck a mine while trying to leave the Strait of Hormuz carrying crude oil, with its navigation equipment and vessel-tracking system switched off.
The statement went on to claim, “The result awaiting any rule-breaking tanker that seeks to disregard safety and the rules of the Strait of Hormuz is a horrific fire.”
Amid reports that oil shipments from the Middle East through the Strait of Hormuz and other routes have recovered to 90% of prewar levels, with the U.S. Navy escorting vessels along a route off the coast of Oman, Iran is once again stepping up attacks on tankers.
According to the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization (IMO), 11 tankers were attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz in the week up to the 4th. That is the highest number since the war with Iran broke out on February 28.

[email protected] Song Gyeong-jae Reporter