- Saudi Arabia relies on region for vital oil shipments.
- Trump says he expects regional situation to be resolved.
- Axios reports Saudi crown prince urged US to strike Houthis.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Yemen’s Houthi fighters, who have seized a vital shipping corridor linking Europe and Asia, have asked Washington not to intervene.
The Houthis have taken control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast after capturing three strategic islands in a lightning offensive.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has relied on the area ever since Iran’s Hormuz blockade choked off its shipments via the Gulf.
More than 70 people were injured on Tuesday after Houthis launched an attack on several cities in Saudi Arabia, further undermining stability in the Middle East.
“The Houthis called us and they don’t want to fight with us,” Trump told reporters on a visit to Dublin, Ireland.
“They don’t want us to go after them.”
“He added that “everything’s gonna work out fine and dandy,” in the region.
Trump also mentioned having spoken to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom he described as a “friend”.
According to US outlet Axios, bin Salman called Trump twice on Thursday to request US strikes on the Houthis, but the American president declined.
The Houthis also targeted Saudi Arabian oil facilities this week with a massive drone and missile attack.
Saudi Arabia has shut down its East-West pipeline after the vital oil conduit came under aerial attack in the widening Middle East war.
The world’s largest crude oil exporter temporarily closed the pipeline after a drone attack that both Baghdad and Riyadh said had originated in Iraq, where Iranian-backed militias operate. Iraq dismissed a military commander on Saturday in response to the attack.
The 1,200-kilometre (745-mile) pipeline running across the Arabian Peninsula had helped Saudi Arabia to bypass a shipping logjam in the Strait of Hormuz, where tanker traffic has slowed to a trickle due to the war between the US and Iran.
The Saudi energy ministry said it had shut the pipeline as a precaution. The line has been moving 4 million to 5 million barrels per day in recent months, amounting to 4% to 5% of global supply, according to ship tracking companies and analysts.
