HOUTHI BACKERS?
As violence raged between Yemen’s Houthi militant movement – widely seen to be Iran-backed – and Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies, Pezeshkian insisted the Houthis do not take direction from Tehran’s government.
Washington and its allies, including Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, accuse Iran of backing the Houthi militant movement that is raining ballistic missiles on the kingdom, and battling Riyadh-backed forces for control of Yemen.
“The Houthis are responsible for their own actions. They don’t take directions from us as those who are resisting in the region, based on the situations that have been imposed on them,” Pezeshkian said, according to the broadcaster’s translation of his remarks.
“We have contacts with them. There is no systematic relationship,” he added.
Saudi Arabia intercepted Houthi ballistic missiles on Thursday after issuing warnings for several regions including Mecca.
The Houthis have imposed a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, hitting its tankers and territory and seizing swathes of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, which is vital for Saudi oil exports, causing energy prices to jump.
Their gains cemented the hold of Iran and its allies on the two waterways that the wider Gulf, including top crude exporter Saudi Arabia, relies on to ship out its oil and other fuel products.
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