American President Joe Biden reaffirmed the United States’ (US) support for Saudi Arabia against Yemen’s Houthi rebels during a phone call with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Wednesday. Both leaders also discussed strategic and economic ties as well as the ongoing nuclear talks with Iran.
The White House released a statement following the talks, which said that the US is concerned over “Iranian-enabled attacks by the Houthis against civilian targets in Saudi Arabia.” In this regard, Biden “underscored the US commitment to support Saudi Arabia in the defence of its people and territory.”
Biden’s remarks came amid a rise in Houthi drone and ballistic missile attacks on Saudi cities and a general escalation in the conflict as the rebels directly attacked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last month for the first time since fighting erupted in 2014.
During the call, the two leaders reaffirmed the historic and strategic partnership between the Kingdom and the United States, and the need to solidify and strengthen cooperation to promote both countries’ interests, and achieve stability in the region and the world.#SPAGOV
— SPAENG (@Spa_Eng) February 9, 2022
Recently, both the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition have engaged in tit-for-tat attacks against each other. While the coalition has launched a series of airstrikes against the rebels in their strongholds in Yemen, especially in Marib, the Houthis have resorted to launching ballistic missiles and armed drones to target Saudi cities and oil facilities.
Earlier this month, three people, including two Indians, were killed and six others were wounded in a Houthi drone attack on the Musaffah industrial area near Abu Dhabi’s international airport on Monday. The attack also led to a fire in the airport.
After coming to power in January last year, one of Biden’s first steps was to temporarily suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia because of concerns that the Saudi-led coalition was violating the human rights of Yemenis, especially the blocking of the Hodeidah port that was causing a man-made starvation crisis, and the deliberate targeting of civilians through airstrikes.
The war has killed more than 130,000 people, with the United Nations calling the conflict in Yemen “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”
The unrest in Yemen began in 2014 when a civil war broke out between the Houthis and the internationally recognised Yemeni government, which was ousted in the same year by the rebels. In 2015, a Saudi-led coalition, including the UAE, launched a major offensive in Yemen by conducting airstrikes on Houthi-controlled areas. Since then, there has been no end in sight to the war, and international efforts to halt the fighting have largely failed.
Biden and King Salman also discussed the ongoing nuclear talks between Iran and the world powers in Vienna. “The President noted his commitment to ensuring that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon,” the White House said.
Moreover, both sides talked about ongoing regional and global crises, especially in the “Middle East and Europe.” They also “reiterated the United States’ and Saudi Arabia’s commitment to ensuring the stability of global energy supplies.”