Khamenei's Strong Attack on Saudi Arabia: Saudi Noses Will Be Ground in Yemen

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, made unprecedented remarks against Saudi Arabia, referring to the military operations of the country and its allies against the Shia Houthis in Yemen, stating that "the noses of the Saudis will definitely be ground into the dirt." The website of the Office of the Leader of the Islamic Republic published a video and text of his remarks two days earlier during a meeting with a number of "mourners," titled "I warn the Saudis." In this speech, Khamenei described the military operations of the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthi rebels in Yemen as similar to "what the Zionists did in Gaza" and characterized it as a "great crime, genocide, and internationally prosecutable." The leader of the Islamic Republic deemed the likelihood of victory for the Saudi-led operations against the Houthis as "below zero" and stated: "They will definitely be hit; the noses of the Saudis will definitely be ground into the dirt." Khamenei's unprecedented and harsh remarks against Saudi Arabia come amid a wave of verbal attacks from government officials and military commanders of the Islamic Republic against this country due to its operations in Yemen. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have long had a fierce rivalry over various regional issues. For example, Iran supports the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, while Saudi Arabia supports his downfall; Tehran also supports the Shia Houthi militants in Yemen, who have overthrown the government of this neighboring country. Despite this, Khamenei recently rejected claims of Iranian "interference" in Yemen, stating: "Now they will create a fuss that Iran interfered in Yemen; yes, this is interference; the fact that we are sitting here and saying two words is interference; [but] the fact that their criminal planes have made the skies of Yemen unsafe is not interference." The leader of the Islamic Republic added: "We have numerous disagreements with the Saudis on various political issues, but we always said that the Saudis showed dignity and composure in their foreign policy; they have lost that dignity and composure. A few inexperienced young people have taken over the affairs of that country and are allowing the aspect of savagery to prevail over dignity and appearance; this will be detrimental to them." Khamenei's remarks come as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan are part of a military coalition against the Shia Houthis, and Turkey, another major Sunni country in the region, has also expressed strong criticism of "Iran's interference in the region," showing its support for this coalition. The United States, which had not intervened in favor of the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi in Yemen until after the Houthis overthrew it, announced its support for the military operations of the Saudi-led coalition in support of Hadi after the operations began.