Yemen Conflict and Houthi Control

If the city of Taiz falls into Houthi hands,

then, without a doubt,

this will be

the last card of legitimacy

that we hold in Yemen

and through which we target the Houthis, and after that,

we will have no legitimacy to intervene in Yemen,

and all of northern Yemen will fall into

Houthi hands. The Houthis

are determined

to take control of Taiz Governorate,

not out of love for this city

or its people, but their real goal is the Bab al-Mandab Strait,

one of the most important international waterways,

and they imposed a blockade on us from this passage, and

prevented our shipping from passing through, and also targeted

our ships, but, God willing,

we will reach a solution with them soon. We spoke with our brothers in

Oman about this matter. If the Houthis accept

a ceasefire, we have no objection to reducing

military escalation, but if they do not accept, we may resort

to a military alliance with Israel and launch strong strikes

against the Houthis wherever they are

in northern Yemen. We have

a strong, brotherly relationship with Israel, while the Houthis are an instrument of

Iran's proxies, fashioned by Iran as a poisoned dagger

on our borders, while at the same time, the Houthis targeted

Israel with missiles, and Israelis know that this

movement poses a real threat to their security, uh…

just as it poses a real threat to our security.

Uh, today Iran is closing the Strait of Hormuz

to our shipping and that of our American friends,

as well as

our Israeli brothers. The Houthis will do

the same thing Iran is doing, closing the Bab al-Mandab Strait to Israeli and American shipping,

so the security of Israeli shipping is part of

our security here in Saudi Arabia,

and we share one enemy with them, Iran and its proxies

in the region.