Pompeo Affirms Support for Arab Coalition in Yemen, Says Iran Behind Continuation of War

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (Reuters)
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Pompeo Affirms Support for Arab Coalition in Yemen, Says Iran Behind Continuation of War

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (Reuters)

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo underlined on Monday US support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, blaming Iran for the civil war.

“The support we’re providing to the Saudis as they attempt to engage these dangerous missiles systems is in America’s best interest,” said Pompeo, according to The Hill newspaper.

He blamed Iran, saying the war is “Iranian led” and that Tehran has “chosen to direct” the Houthis not to withdraw from the port of Hodeidah as agreed to last year.

“The Houthis, who continue to refuse to comply with the agreements they have signed up for in Stockholm, Sweden, refused to move back from the port in Hodeidah,” he stressed.

He said weapons used by Houthis are smuggled into Yemen from Iran in addition to the missiles launched at Saudi territory and that affect civil aviation.

“The United States has an obligation to protect our citizens, so the support that we’re providing to the Saudis as they attempt to engage these dangerous missile systems is in America’s best interest,” he told the newspaper.

He said the US military support also aims at countering al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and ensuring protection of the US from the terror risk inside Yemen, pointing to the reasons why US President Donald Trump vetoed a Congress resolution to end support for Yemen.

When asked whether ISIS still poses a threat, Pompeo said it undoubtedly still does.

“We have made significant progress. I give our coalition partners – we built a coalition of over 80 countries, called the Defeat ISIS Coalition, an enormous global coalition to take down that caliphate. That coalition remains,” he responded.

On whether the US was seeking regime change in Iran, Pompeo said the US administration wants it “to make a set of decisions that are very different from the ones they’re making today.”

He highlighted the 12 demands by the US administration back in May 2018, stressing that they are all reasonable and simply call on Iran to behave like a normal country.

“They’re simple things like don’t kill people in Europe, don’t conduct assassinate – it’s not outrageous.”

He also wondered “whether it is outrageous to ask Iran not to support militias in Iraq to try and destabilize the Iraqi government so the Iraqi people have an independent, sovereign nation of their own.”



Ten Wounded, Including a Child, in Israeli Strikes on South Lebanon

FILED - 19 October 2024, Lebanon, Zawtar: Thick Smoke billows from the southern Lebanese village of Zawtar, where Israeli forces attacked alleged pro-Iranian Hezbollah positions.Photo: STR/dpa
FILED - 19 October 2024, Lebanon, Zawtar: Thick Smoke billows from the southern Lebanese village of Zawtar, where Israeli forces attacked alleged pro-Iranian Hezbollah positions.Photo: STR/dpa
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Ten Wounded, Including a Child, in Israeli Strikes on South Lebanon

FILED - 19 October 2024, Lebanon, Zawtar: Thick Smoke billows from the southern Lebanese village of Zawtar, where Israeli forces attacked alleged pro-Iranian Hezbollah positions.Photo: STR/dpa
FILED - 19 October 2024, Lebanon, Zawtar: Thick Smoke billows from the southern Lebanese village of Zawtar, where Israeli forces attacked alleged pro-Iranian Hezbollah positions.Photo: STR/dpa

Ten people, including a young child, were injured in two Israeli airstrikes carried out on Sunday in southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on Monday.

According to a statement made by the Public Health Emergency Operations Center, “nine civilians were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Burj Rahal in the district of Tyre”.

Also, an Israeli airstrike on the town of Zrariyeh in the Sidon district left a child critically wounded.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said an Israeli military unit crossed into Lebanese territory after midnight, moving from the Khallat Wardeh border area toward the vicinity of Aita al-Shaab. It has taken position there.

Despite a ceasefire agreement between Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel that aimed at ending over a year of conflict, Israel continues to target various parts of Lebanon particularly in the south often claiming they target Hezbollah fighters or positions associated with the group.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah agreed to withdraw from areas south of the Litani River - approximately 30 kilometers from the Israeli border - and dismantle its military infrastructure there. In exchange, the Lebanese Army and United Nations peacekeepers (UNIFIL) were to strengthen their presence in the region.

Israel, for its part, was required to withdraw from territories it occupied during the conflict. However, it has maintained control over five strategic highlands, which Lebanon continues to demand be vacated.