{"id":27792,"date":"2026-09-23T13:43:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T13:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=27792"},"modified":"2026-09-23T13:43:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T13:43:21","slug":"mbs-will-not-forget-ex-us-official-warns-trumps-houthi-stance-has-irked-saudis-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=27792","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;MBS will not forget&#8217;: Ex-US official warns Trump&#8217;s Houthi stance has irked Saudis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134427572,imgsize-107928,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/trump-mbs.jpg\" alt=\"'MBS will not forget': Ex-US official warns Trump's Houthi stance has irked Saudis\" title=\"Trump's reluctance comes as he is already dealing with the wider conflict with Iran.\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"Trump's reluctance comes as he is already dealing with the wider conflict with Iran.\">Trump&#8217;s reluctance comes as he is already dealing with the wider conflict with Iran.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>United States President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to hold back from joining Saudi Arabia\u2019s military campaign against the Iran-backed Houthis has created a fresh strain between Washington and Riyadh, adding another complication to an already uneasy relationship.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"2\"\/>Saudi Arabia has asked the US to carry out repeated air strikes against the Houthis, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Washington has so far declined, leaving Riyadh to confront an expanding threat largely on its own.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"4\"\/>The hesitation is particularly significant for Crown Prince <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/mohammed-bin-salman\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mohammed bin Salman<\/a>, who has spent years relying on the US as Saudi Arabia\u2019s main security partner while also trying to position the kingdom as a major global centre for business, trade and tourism.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"10\"\/><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Saudi Arabia wants stronger US backing<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"14\"\/>The Houthis have intensified attacks on Saudi targets after declaring a blockade of the kingdom\u2019s ports in July. Over the past two weeks, they have struck oil facilities in southern Saudi Arabia and launched an offensive along Yemen\u2019s Red Sea coast.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"16\"\/>The offensive has pushed back Saudi-backed forces supporting Yemen\u2019s government and strengthened Houthi control around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, one of the world&#8217;s key shipping routes.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"19\"\/>The Houthis also fired a ballistic missile towards Riyadh over the weekend, marking the first such attack on the Saudi capital since the conflict resumed.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"21\"\/>Mona Yacoubian, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the US decision was creating further uncertainty in the relationship.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"23\"\/>\u201cThe US is wavering, and ultimately its decision, at least for now, not to join the Saudis is simply injecting more tension into the bilateral relationship,\u201d she told FT. <!-- -->\u201cIt\u2019s raising further concerns for the Saudis about what role they can rely on the US to play.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"27\"\/>Retired Lieutenant General Karen Gibson, a former director of intelligence at US Central Command, said the episode could leave a lasting impression on the Saudi leadership.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"29\"\/>\u201cMBS will not forget this,\u201d Gibson said, adding that the hesitation shows that the \u201cUnited States will not necessarily fight when Saudi Arabia believes its vital interests are threatened\u201d.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"32\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Trump faces pressure on another front<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"34\"\/>Trump&#8217;s reluctance to intervene directly comes as his administration is already dealing with the wider conflict with Iran.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"36\"\/>Saudi Arabia has itself faced repeated Iranian strikes on infrastructure, while the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has added to the economic pressure affecting the Gulf.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"38\"\/>Trump also abandoned a US military plan in May to escort commercial shipping through the strait after Riyadh refused to allow American aircraft to use Saudi bases or airspace for the operation. <!-- -->Saudi officials had expressed concerns that the plan could trigger further attacks on Gulf states.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"42\"\/>Washington is also dealing with limited military resources and depleted ammunition stocks. Liz Dent, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said opening another front would be politically difficult with US midterm elections approaching in November.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"44\"\/>\u201cIt would be really difficult for [Trump] to get involved in yet another front of this war\u201d ahead of the US midterm elections in November.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"47\"\/>However, she said the possibility remained that the Saudi request could be narrowed enough for Trump to accept.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"49\"\/>\u201cIt\u2019s very possible that [MBS] is slowly reducing the ask and that Trump will at some point see something that is politically feasible for him,\u201d Dent said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"51\"\/>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot more going on behind the scenes that\u2019s keeping that relationship intact,\u201d she added.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"53\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Defence ties remain intact<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"55\"\/>Despite the disagreement, Washington has not abandoned Riyadh. <!-- -->The US continues to supply Saudi Arabia with weapons and intelligence, while Saudi forces also rely on American air-defence systems.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"59\"\/>The Trump administration last week approved a potential $24.3bn sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, although the aircraft would take years to be delivered.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"61\"\/>A Saudi analyst, who declined to be named, said Riyadh remained frustrated but understood Trump&#8217;s approach.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"63\"\/>\u201cThere is a certain amount of frustration, but there\u2019s also a recognition that\u2019s the way [Trump] is,\u201d the analyst told FT. <!-- -->\u201cSaudi Arabia has all the capacity to bomb everything, and the US is giving us targeting information we need.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"67\"\/>The analyst said American aircraft could nevertheless have played an important symbolic role at the beginning of the conflict.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"69\"\/>The US has also maintained contact with the Houthis through talks facilitated by Oman. A Houthi official told the Associated Press that the group was targeting Saudi vessels and would not attack US or other international ships. <!-- -->Trump has also said the Houthis agreed not to target American interests.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"73\"\/>But analysts said the limits of US involvement could have longer-term consequences.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"75\"\/>Yacoubian said it \u201cdoes not instil a lot of confidence in the partnership\u201d if Saudi Arabia \u201cis going to be left out on their own because US assets are not currently threatened by this Houthi onslaught\u201d.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"78\"\/>Asaad al-Shamlan of the Prince Saud al-Faisal Institute for Diplomatic Studies said the broader relationship remained \u201cin a very good state\u201d. <!-- -->But he noted that Riyadh viewed the Houthi threat differently from Washington and Europe, where it is often seen mainly as a Saudi problem.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"82\"\/>Firas Maksad, managing director for Middle East and North Africa at Eurasia Group, said the disagreement could push Saudi Arabia further towards diversifying its security partnerships.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"84\"\/>\u201cThe space it leaves behind will create opportunities for strategic competitors,\u201d he said. \u201cRiyadh has been diversifying its security partners while attempting an uneasy accommodation with Tehran. The tension in its relationship with Washington could accelerate that process.\u201d<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/world\/middle-east\/mbs-will-not-forget-ex-us-official-says-trumps-houthi-stance-has-irked-saudis\/articleshow\/134427321.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump&#8217;s reluctance comes as he is already dealing with the wider conflict with Iran. United States President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to hold back from joining Saudi Arabia\u2019s military campaign against the Iran-backed Houthis has created a fresh strain between Washington and Riyadh, adding another complication to an already uneasy relationship.Saudi Arabia has asked the US [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Trump&#8217;s reluctance comes as he is already dealing with the wider conflict with Iran. United States President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to hold back from joining Saudi Arabia\u2019s military campaign against the Iran-backed Houthis has created a fresh strain between Washington and Riyadh, adding another complication to an already uneasy relationship.Saudi Arabia has asked the US [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":3,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":5,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/trump-mbs.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}