Trump says Houthis agreed not to fight US, Fox reports

US President Donald Trump said Yemen's Houthis have agreed not to fight the United States, Fox News reported Sunday, as the Iran-allied group increased pressure on US ally Saudi Arabia.

Fox News reporter Trey Yingst cited Trump as saying Washington is “in constant communication with the Houthis” and that the group had agreed not to fight the United States. Trump has made similar claims before, saying during a September 12 visit to Ireland that the Houthis had called the United States and did not want a fight with Washington.

The latest comments came after a missile targeted the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday. The Houthis have also carried out a rapid offensive in Yemen, seizing territory from the internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.

Fox News also reported that Trump is in “deciding mode” on Iran, where US and Israeli forces launched a major aerial bombing campaign on February 28 before a standoff that has lasted almost seven months. Yingst said Trump told him that “big things will be happening in the not so distant future” and warned that “Iranians better behave” while he decided whether to “blow up their nation.”