Intel: How US just contradicted its own justification for arming the Saudis in Yemen

A key State Department official portrayed the Houthi rebels as independent from Tehran in a briefing with reporters on Thursday, a significant shift that flies in the face of years of US justification for its role in the war in Yemen.

“The Houthis’ de-escalation proposal, which the Saudis are responding to, shows that Iran clearly does not speak for the Houthis, nor have the best interests of the Yemeni people at heart,” the department’s Iran coordinator Brian Hook told reporters at the State Department. “Iran is trying to prolong Yemen’s civil war to project power.”