by WorldTribune Staff, August 10, 2018

Iran’s support of Houthi rebels in Yemen has diminished since President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic, Yemeni officials said.

“Any way that support from Iran is lessened is helpful in stopping the war,” Abd-Rabbo Moftah, deputy governor of the Yemeni city of Ma’rib, told Fox News. “The Houthis were feeding on this (nuclear) deal and its legitimacy.”

Moftah said “there is still some support” from Iran for the Houthis but “we have seen it drop since the U.S. pulled out” of the deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

In May, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on five Iranians linked with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who allegedly provided ballistic missile support to the Houthi rebels in Yemen which they then used to attack Saudi Arabia.

Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, Yemen’s ambassador to the U.S. and Permanent Representative to the UN, said “the clear-eyed President Trump’s Iran strategy, along with withdrawing from the Iran deal and demanding that Iran cease its destabilizing behavior in the region, has made clear to Iran and its proxies in Yemen that meddling in the region will not be overlooked again.”

Mubarak added that, as a result of Trump’s “strong and positive signals,” the Houthis are beginning to engage more with the peace process. “So withdrawing from the Iran deal will definitely contribute to the end of the war in Yemen,” he said.

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  Abd-Rabbo Moftah, Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, Houthi rebels, JCPOA, officials say, Trump’s Iran strategy will help end Yemeni conflict, WorldTribune.com