A senior official of Yemen's Hothi rebels has ridiculed reports of Iranian forces withdrawing from Yemen due to a United States air campaign the rebels say has failed to achieve any meaningful objectives, according to a Newsweek’s article.
The article by Tom O'Connor, who is a Senior Writer, Foreign Policy & Deputy Editor, National Security and Foreign Policy, cited The Telegraph newspaper which quoted a senior Iranian official on Thursday who said that Iran had begun pulling military personnel out of Yemen, believing its Houthi rebels ally "will not be able to survive" the coming months, or even days.
The senior Iranian official was cited as saying that President Donald Trump's position was the top concern for the Islamic Republic following the U.S. leader's direct threats to Iran over Ansar Allah's campaign of missile and drone strikes against Israel and ships accused of doing business with Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Speaking with Newsweek on Friday, a senior Houthi rebels official mocked the very assertion that Iran had deployed personnel to Yemen in the first place.
"There are no Iranian forces in Yemen to withdraw from," the Houthi official said. "So the matter does not require denial but rather laughing out loud."
The Houthi official also disputed the impact of the U.S. strikes that Trump has referred to as "tremendously successful," allegedly killing scores of senior leaders. Trump's claim was backed by Moammar al-Eryani, information minister of Yemen's internationally recognized government that was ousted from the capital by the Houthi rebels a decade ago.
Eryani said earlier on Friday that up to 70 Ansar Allah personnel had been killed in U.S. strikes, including prominent field commanders, along with members of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
"All this information is inaccurate, and the information published since the beginning of the American escalation against Yemen is misleading and far from reality, whether that is regarding the destruction of military capabilities or targeting leaders, all of which are far from the truth," the senior Houthi official said.
The U.S. has conducted a sustained campaign against the Houthi rebels under Trump orders since March 15. The attacks mark the most intensive U.S. military operations since he took office in January promising to oversee peace in the Middle East.
Thus far, the Houthis has yet to announce the deaths of any senior commanders. Days before Trump commenced strikes against the group, a senior Houthi official had told Newsweek that it was "proceeding with extreme caution" to protect top officials, including their leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
Meanwhile, as U.S. officials and experts debate the cost of open-ended U.S. action against the Houthi rebels , which is nearing $1 billion, according to three sources cited Friday by CNN, the campaign has also come under separate scrutiny for being at the centre of an early intelligence scandal. The Trump administration continues to face backlash after Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently added to a Signal chat in which top Trump administration officials discussed their plans to strike te Houthi rebels last month.