DUBAI: Yemen’s Houthi militia claimed Tuesday that they shot down another American MQ-9 Reaper drone, even as the US kept up its campaign of intense airstrikes targeting the group.
The reported shootdown over Yemen’s contested Marib governorate came as airstrikes hit around Sanaa, the country’s militia-held capital, and Saada, a stronghold for the Houthis.
US President Donald Trump issued a new warning to both the Houthis and their main benefactor, Iran, describing the group as having “been decimated” by the campaign of strikes that began March 15.
“Many of their Fighters and Leaders are no longer with us,” Trump wrote on his social media website Truth Social. “We hit them every day and night — Harder and harder. Their capabilities that threaten Shipping and the Region are rapidly being destroyed. Our attacks will continue until they are no longer a threat to Freedom of Navigation.”
He added: “The choice for the Houthis is clear: Stop shooting at US ships, and we will stop shooting at you. Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Houthis and their sponsors in Iran.”
Houthis claim they downed another US drone
The militia claimed to have felled a drone in Marib governorate, home to oil and gas fields still under the control of allies to Yemen’s exiled central government. Footage released on social media showed flames in the night, with a Yemeni man claiming a drone had been shot down.
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, separately claimed downing the MQ-9 drone in a prerecorded video message.
Saree described the militia targeting the drone with “a suitable locally manufactured missile.” The Houthis have surface-to-air missiles — such as the Iranian missile known as the 358 — capable of downing aircraft.
Iran denies arming the militia, though Tehran-manufactured weaponry has been found on the battlefield and in sea shipments heading to Yemen for the Shiite Houthi militia despite a United Nations arms embargo.
The US military acknowledged to The Associated Press being aware of reports of the downing of a Reaper, but declined to comment further.
General Atomics Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes over 40,000 feet (12,100 meters) and remain in the air for over 30 hours. The aircraft have been flown by both the US military and the CIA for years over Afghanistan, Iraq and now Yemen.
The Houthis claim they’ve shot down 20 MQ-9s over the country over the years, with 16 downed during the militia’ campaign over the Israel-Hamas war. The US military hasn’t acknowledged the total number of the drones it has lost there.
Intense US bombings began March 15
An Associated Press review has found the new American operation against the Houthis under Trump appears more extensive than those under former President Joe Biden, as the US moves from solely targeting launch sites to firing at ranking personnel as well as dropping bombs in cities.
The new campaign of airstrikes, which the Houthis now say have killed at least 61 people, started after the militia threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid entering the Gaza Strip. The militia have loosely defined what constitutes an Israeli ship, meaning many vessels could be targeted.
The Houthis targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors from November 2023 until January of this year. They also launched attacks targeting American warships, though none has been hit so far.
The attacks greatly raised the Houthis’ profile as they faced economic problems and launched a crackdown targeting dissent and aid workers at home amid Yemen’s decade-long stalemated war, which has torn apart the Arab world’s poorest nation.
Yemen’s Houthis claim they shot down another American drone as US strikes pound country
https://arab.news/97fy6
Yemen’s Houthis claim they shot down another American drone as US strikes pound country
- The reported shootdown over Yemen’s contested Marib governorate came as airstrikes hit around Sanaa and Saada
- The US military acknowledged to The Associated Press being aware of reports of the downing of a Reaper
Deal with Iran ‘Unimaginable,’ Pompeo tells WGS in Dubai
- UAE’s Gargash says he would like to see direct US negotiations with Tehran
DUBAI: Former US secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, told the World Government Summit in Dubai on Monday that he believed a deal between Iran and the United States was “unimaginable” under the current Ayatollah regime believing US strikes on the nation were still a possibility despite the apparent deescalation of the last few days.
“It's unimaginable that there could be a deal. To me, we've had a deal with Iranians multiple times,” he told a panel in Dubai on Tuesday.
“They have cheated and lied and avoided compliance with every deal they've signed.”
Pompeo was central to the US decision to leave the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal when he served as secretary during Donald Trumps first term. According to the US department of Justice, the Islamic Republic subsequently placed a $1 million bounty on his head.
Trump has in previous days said the US was seeking to srike a deal with Iran whilst simultanously ordering a large scale militray build up in the region. Pompeo said that he believed the US president could use military strikes – or at least the threat of them – to increase leverage on the regime to give up its enrichment and missiles fully, although he remained cynical of anything being achieved without regime change.
“To think that there's a long-term solution that actually provides stability and peace to this region while the Ayatollah was still in power, is something I pray for, but find unimaginable,” Pompeo said.
On Syria, Pompeo expressed cautious optimism that the interim president Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa will succeed in rebuilding his country with a lasting peace.
Al-Sharaa has previously said he was focused on consolidating power, rebuilding state institutions, integrating military factions, and restoring Syria's international relations, including with the United States, Russia, and regional powers.
Pompeo said he maintained a level of mistrust in the Syrian president – most notably due to his involvement with Al-Qaeda - but added that he hoped Al-Sharaa would do well.
“I have known of Mr. Sharaa for a long time, when I was a CIA director… we had a $10m bounty on his head. He was an Al Qaeda terrorist,” he said.
“It is important for the region to get stability in Syria and so I am rooting for him…. I hope we all do our part to help him be more successful at bringing a very fractured nation back together so that.”
He said he hoped the up to seven million people who had fled the country as refugees could one day return to their homes.
“But it is a very difficult task for anyone and someone with the history that he has, I think it makes it even more complicated for him to be successful. But he’s the leader today and we all should hope that he is able to pull off what It is he has stated his intentions are.”
Pompeo was joined on stage by former UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, who was more hopeful of a diplomatic solution to the Iranian crisis; saying the region stood firm against escalation and further prolonged military conflict.
Gargash believed that it was in the best interest of Iran to strike a deal with the US that would open the pathway to it resolving its multitude of crises.
“I think that the region has gone through various various calamitous confrontations. I don't think we need another one,” he told the summit.
“I would like to see direct Iranian American negotiations leading to understandings so that we don't have these issues every other day.”
Speaking more broadly on regional security, Gargash said resolving the Palestinian issue was still of utmost importance if the middle east was to secure a prosperous future. He said that the UAE was commiitted to seeing through the Trumps plan but ruled out rumours that the emirates was poised to take over governance of the territory.
“We have to work with the Palestinians. We have to work with the Egyptians, the Israelis, the Jordanians, and of course, American leadership is key, really, for achieving a sort of, I won't say, sustainable solution at this time, but moving on with with the part two of President Trump's plan,” he said.
On the international stage, Gargash said he bvelived the health of the China-US relationship was the biggest hinderence to peace – warning that if not managed properly it would likely lead to increasing comflict around the world. He said it was paramount that the two countries maintained a mature relationship based on competition.
