Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

The Iranian-Backed Houthi Rebels' Takeover of the US Embassy Compound in Yemen Is Another Embarrassment for the Biden Administration

The Iranian-Backed Houthi Rebels' Takeover of the US Embassy Compound in Yemen Is Another Embarrassment for the Biden Administration

The breach of the U.S. Embassy grounds in Yemen casts President Biden's overtures to the Houthis in a bad light.

The taking of the former U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels is yet another embarrassment for the Biden administration.

Due to the ongoing civil war between the Houthis and the country’s internationally recognized government, the United States moved most of the embassy staff and its operations to Saudi Arabia in 2015.

However, the Houthis’ breach of the compound and the taking of the compound’s Yemeni security personnel as hostages flies in the face of President Biden’s overtures. Most of the hostages have now been released.

The U.S. had been supporting the Saudi-led effort to defeat the Houthis under President Trump. As soon as President Biden took office, he suspended all offensive military aid to the Saudi-led coalition and then rescinded the Trump administration’s designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organization.

Although the Houthis have controlled Sanaa for nearly the past seven years, the timing of the breach and the fact that they took and continue to hold some hostages is important.

Yemeni soldiers from the 1st Armored Division.


The move by the Tehran-led Houthis has a two-fold purpose. First, it sends a message to Washington and the Saudis that the Houthis remain in firm control of Sanaa and the other areas they occupy despite their offensive against the oil-rich area of Marib, contrary to what some analysts had claimed.

Second, by taking and holding the Yemeni security personnel hostage the Houthis and Tehran send the message that while they are in firm control of the capital, they don’t fear any American repercussion contrary to how similar events unfolded two years ago in Iraq.

In January 2020, after Iranian-proxy militias attempted to storm the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, then-President Trump ordered a drone strike that killed MG Qassem Soleimani, the commanding general of Tehran’s Quds Force who had encouraged the attack.

The Houthis are splitting hairs by holding hostage Yemeni personnel from the U.S. compound but not U.S. nationals so as to not invite a military response such as what Trump did.

The Houthis are incensed at the decision of the UN Security Council to meet with the Saudi ambassador to Yemen and condemn the Houthis’ escalation of violence. The group has conducted cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia.

The State Department issued a statement that demanded all personnel be released while scantly paying attention to the act of storming foreign soil, which the U.S. compound is.

“We call on the Houthis to immediately vacate it and return all seized property. The U.S. government will continue its diplomatic efforts to secure the release of our staff and the vacating of our compound, including through our international partners,” a State Department spokesperson said.

U.S. special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking and Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy to Yemen Cathy Westley visited Aden on Monday meeting with the prime minister, foreign minister, other senior government officials.


However, Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican lawmaker and former Navy SEAL compared the Houthis’ storming of the U.S. Embassy to previous attacks against American missions. “Tehran in 1979, Benghazi in 2012, Kabul and now Sanaa in 2021. It’s almost like our enemies sense weakness when certain people hold office,” Crenshaw posted on Twitter, referring to the fact that all occurred under Democratic presidential administrations.

The Yemeni civil war began in late 2014 when the Houthis seized large areas of the country, including the capital, Sanaa. It escalated when in March 2015 the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates assembled a U.S.-backed military coalition in an attempt to restore the government of the internationally recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The fighting has spurred a huge humanitarian crisis that the UN considers the worst in the world. With over 230,000 people dead in the fighting, at least 80 percent of the country of 30 million rely on aid to survive.

The Houthis’ actions in Sanaa and beyond more resemble a terrorist organization than a legitimate government. But they recognize weakness when they see it, as Crenshaw pointed out. President Biden removed the terrorist designation to aid in the release of aid throughout the country, but the suffering shows no signs of ending.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
×