President Trump said the Iran-backed Houthis told the US it doesn’t want a fight with Washington — even as the terror group seized the strategic Perim Island at the entrance to the Red Sea, tightening their grip on one of the world’s key shipping chokepoints.
The Houthis’ takeover of Perim puts them in control of much of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline and territory in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow waterway linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden known as a major shipping route for global trade and energy shipments.
During a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in Dublin on Saturday, Trump said the Houthis had contacted the US and indicated they did not want Washington to become directly involved.
“We have had discussions, the Houthis called us and they don’t want to fight with us. They don’t want us to go after them and would much prefer not having us involved,” Trump told reporters, adding that the Houthis were allowing “most ships” to pass but were unhappy with one unnamed country.