"Our greatest desire is a direct confrontation with the United States and Israel,” Houthi said in a televised speech on Wednesday.
The warning came after US media reported that planning is underway for possible military action against Yemen in response to a surge in attacks in the Red Sea on ships owned by the Israeli regime or those bound to the occupied territories.
The Ansarullah leader said the United States is complicit in Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip for providing banned weapons, including white phosphorus, and fighter jets to the Israeli military for the war against the Palestinians.
He also warned other countries not to get involved in a US-led task force established this week to counter Yemeni attacks on Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea.
The Yemeni operations to stop the passage of ships towards occupied territories in support of the Palestinians in Gaza have so far been effective, he said.
Al-Houthi further warned that if the US intends to militarily engage Yemen, it will experience “a scenario worse than Afghanistan and Vietnam.”
The Yemeni armed forces will respond to any American attack by targeting US warships and vessels with “our missiles and drones,” he warned.
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