The “supreme leader” of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, used an address marking the Persian New Year, Nowruz, on Friday to claim that Iran does not want or “need” proxy terrorist organizations – contrary to decades of evidence of Iran serving as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism – and has no authority over Yemen’s Houthi terrorists.
“The Yemeni people are motivated, the resistance centers in the regional countries are motivated. Iran does not need proxies. What does proxy mean?” Khamenei said in his address, according to the Iranian state propaganda outlet PressTV.
On the Houthis specifically, a Shiite jihadist terrorist organization formally known as “Ansarullah,” Khamenei praised the terrorists for “standing up and resisting,” but claimed they had nothing to do with the Iranian regime.
“It is a big mistake to think they are doing this on behalf of Iran. No, it is not on behalf of Iran,” he denied.
The Times of Israel further translated Khamenei’s remarks as saying, “the Yemeni nation [Ansarullah] has its own motivation and the resistance groups in the region have their own motivations. Iran doesn’t need proxies.”
Khamenei further used the speech to threaten attacks on the United States should it continue to correctly identified Iran as a key patron of the Houthi movement and demand that it cease its malignant support for terrorism around the world.
“The Americans should know threats will get them nowhere when confronting Iran,” Khamenei claimed, “and others should know that if they do anything malign to the Iranian nation, they will get a hard slap.”
Khamenei’s remarks follow a sudden escalation in violence between the U.S. government and the Houthis, prompted by a Houthi threat last week to resume its terrorist activities against global commercial shipping in and around the Red Sea. The Houthis – whose official slogan is “allahu akbar, death to America, death to Israel, a curse upon the Jews, victory for Islam” – declared war on Israel in late 2023 as a display of solidarity with Hamas following the atrocities that Hamas terrorists committed against thousands of Israeli civilians in October of that year. Houthi terrorists regularly attempt to attack Israel directly and fired missiles at Israel four times this week, but struggle with accuracy and have not caused any meaningful damage to the country. The group’s efforts in the Red Sea have been much more devastating, attacking civilian ships at random, even at the expense of targeting its Iranian allies.
As a result of the Red Sea attacks, much of global shipping has been forced to reroute to avoid the usually heavily trafficked Suez Canal and travel around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, a much more expensive and time-consuming voyage. Maritime insurance rates have skyrocketed, affecting global commerce. The Houthis temporarily paused their attacks in January in response to Israel and Hamas engaging in ceasefire talks, but announced last week a plan to return to targeting random ships near Yemen.
Before the attacks could begin, President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes on key Houthi facilities in Yemen on Saturday. Trump explained his actions in a statement published this weekend on his social media outlet Truth Social, declaring that America would recognize any belligerence by the Houthis as an action by Iran.
“Funded by Iran, the Houthi thugs have fired missiles at U.S. aircraft, and targeted our Troops and Allies,” Trump wrote.
“To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY! Do NOT threaten the American People,” he continued, “their President, who has received one of the largest mandates in Presidential History, or Worldwide shipping lanes. If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”
On Monday, Trump repeated his warning that Iran stop funding the Houthis, declaring, “every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences.”
“Those consequences will be dire!” he asserted.
The State Department announced new measures to limit Iranian influence on Thursday: sanctions on Chinese companies that help refine and process sanctioned Iranian oil. In an announcement of the sanctions, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce specified that at least one of the sanctioned companies, Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical Co., Ltd., is believed to be refining oil “from vessels linked to Ansarallah (Houthis), a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and the U.S.-designated Iranian Ministry of Defense of Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).”
Khamenei’s attempts to claim that Tehran only spiritually supports Houthi terrorism follow statements from Houthi leaders themselves insisting Iran has no authority over their actions. The Houthis, who claim that the Trump airstrikes were an unwarranted imperialist aggression, have also repeatedly promised to “escalate” violence – but, they insist, without instruction from Iran.
“There will be no talk of any dialling down of operations before ending the aid blockade in Gaza,” Houthi “foreign minister” Jamal Amer said in remarks this week. “Iran is not interfering in our decision but what is happening is that it mediates sometimes but it cannot dictate things.”
Follow Frances Martel on Facebook and Twitter.
