US President Donald Trump rejected a request from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for strikes against Ansarullah fighters in Yemen, news outlet Axios reported on Thursday.
The Saudi crown prince called Trump on Thursday to tell him about the deteriorating military situation in Yemen as “Houthi forces” approached the coastal city of Mokha, Axios reported, citing two unidentified US officials.
The crown prince reportedly called Trump again a few hours later to request strikes on the Houthis, but the American president declined.
Washington will provide Saudi Arabia with intelligence on the Houthis and targeting data, and more than 200 US military personnel are already in Saudi Arabia providing “non-kinetic support,” according to a US official cited by Axios.
On Friday, Ansarullah fighters in Yemen seized a key Red Sea island in the middle of the Bab al-Mandab strait, completing a push to take control of a waterway crucial to Saudi oil exports.
Source: Al-Manar English Website