Yemen’s Ambassador to Qatar Rajeh Badi has accused Iran of being behind the renewed fighting in Yemen and of using the Houthi rebels to tighten its grip on Red Sea shipping routes, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Badi blamed the Houthis for initiating the fighting, adding that the group was aiming to “seize strategic ground along the Red Sea”.

The Yemeni envoy contended that the relationship between Iran and the Houthis was “no longer a secret”. He claimed Tehran was “doubling down on the Houthis as its remaining lever”.

Badi remarked that Iran’s alleged grip over the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab would be “more powerful than any nuclear arsenal”.