Iran has reportedly withdrawn its military personnel from Yemen, signaling a notable shift in its regional strategy as American airstrikes intensify against the Houthi movement, The Telegraph reported Thursday.
A high-ranking Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicated that Tehran made the decision to prevent a direct clash with Washington.
“If even a single Iranian soldier is killed, we could be pulled into open confrontation,” the source explained. Iran, according to the official, is reassessing its priorities across the region, pulling back from its traditional support for proxy groups and focusing more directly on the United States as a perceived threat.
“Trump and how to deal with him” now dominates strategic discourse in Tehran, the source revealed. “Every meeting is dominated by discussions about him, and none of the regional groups we previously supported are being discussed.”
The report comes amid US strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, which have increased dramatically in recent weeks.
Two weeks ago, US President Donald Trump stated that the Houthis would be “completely annihilated" and added that Iranian support would only impede but not stop the Houthis' destruction.
Last week, Trump said that the Houthis now want peace because the US attacks on them have been very successful, while stressing that those strikes will continue for a very long time.
An Iranian regime insider quoted by The Telegraph described the decision to step away from the Houthis as strategic.
“The view here is that the Houthis will not be able to survive and are living their final months or even days, so there is no point in keeping them on our list,” the source said. He added that Iran’s regional proxy network, once anchored by figures like Hezbollah’s Nasrallah and Syria’s Assad, is being reassessed: “Keeping only one part of that chain for the future makes no sense.”