Donald Trump spoke by phone with the head of Yemen’s legitimate government, “but did not make a commitment for military aid.”

🔸Reuters reported on Monday, 30 Shahrivar, citing four sources, that Donald Trump, the president of the United States, spoke by phone on Sunday with Rashad Al-Alimi, the head of the Presidential Leadership Council of Yemen.

🔸The call took place amid the continued attacks by Yemen’s Houthis against positions of the forces of the country’s official government.

🔸Two sources on the side of the talks told Reuters that in the conversation the head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council asked for U.S. military assistance to confront the Iran-backed Houthis, but Donald Trump made no commitment in this regard.

🔸Earlier, The New York Times had reported that the U.S. government on Sunday, following renewed requests from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, was preparing to carry out airstrikes against the Houthis, but Trump canceled the attacks at the last moment—even as forces were loading bombs onto the aircraft.

🔸On Sunday, the U.S. president said in an interview with Fox News that the United States is “in continuous contact” with the Houthis, and that they “agreed not to enter a war with the United States.”

🔸Iran-backed Houthis have, in recent days, intensified their war against Saudi Arabia, America’s ally, at the same time as they made advances in areas around the strategic Strait of Bab al-Mandeb.

🔸The U.S. State Department on Saturday warned that hostility and conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis supported by the Islamic Republic may “escalate quickly.”