As Iran faces looming Trump deadline, is Khamenei shifting strategy?
Washington's warning to Iran over its support for Yemen's Houthi rebels has brought the two archenemies closer to the brink of a direct military conflict.
TEHRAN — Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Tehran does not have any proxies in the region, amid escalated regional tensions that have seen pro-Iran Houthi rebels in Yemen targeted in a wave of US military strikes.
"One big misconception on the part of American and European politicians is that they consider resistance centers in the region as Iranian proxies," Khamenei declared on Friday during a televised speech marking the first day of the new Iranian year.
"The people of Yemen have their motivation, and other nations do, too. They are protesting, and there is no proxy."
The comments came as the United States has, in several rounds, pounded the positions and key infrastructure run by the ruling Houthi movement in Yemen over its attacks and disruptions to international shipping in the Red Sea. President Donald Trump warned Tehran last week that it will be held accountable for any projectile fired by the Shiite rebels.
