By Jacob Bogage and Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON, Oct 13 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Yemen’s Houthi militants of deliberately trying to drive up oil prices ahead of the US midterm elections and warned that he would “never forget” their attacks on Saudi Arabia, amid a widening regional conflict fueled by the US war with Iran.
“The Houthis are behaving very badly,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, accusing the group of resuming attacks at Iran’s behest after a period of relative quiet following US strikes in Yemen last year.
Trump also made clear that his warning would extend beyond the November 3 midterm elections, saying, “I’ll be there after the elections, and I will never forget!”
The warning followed a series of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, including strikes on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport that have killed at least 13 people, wounded more than 300 and forced the closure of the airport.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump told reporters he “might” ask Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to intervene in support of Saudi interests. “President Erdogan, I think, would do as I ask,” Trump said.
The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, have been fighting the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in a civil war since 2014. The conflict has intensified amid the eight-month US-Iran war, with the group escalating attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the strategically important Bab al-Mandab Strait.
The renewed attacks have raised concerns about disruptions to global oil supplies and shipping routes, threatening to push energy prices higher.
(Reporting by Jacob Bogage and Nandita Bose; editing by Michelle Nichols)
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