It's a bit more of an issue than cultural differences when your only understanding of the world is through the lens of Aladdin.

To even put the blame on "race" would narrow the systemic issues of orientalism and western supremacy as hegemonic discourses that prevent this moron from even being able to see how egregious this paragraph is

I expected the man to look like those I'd met in Alabama - straw hanging out of his mouth, beer gut, and empty cans rolling around in the back of his truck. Instead he was a soft spoken, slender fellow, with a neat suit and tie to match"

If some posh British asshat said that it'd be just as annoying and ignorant.

2006 called, they want their "I swear I don't hate them I just hate their culture and everything else about them" bullshit back.

Making that stereotypical assumption about a random American from the deep south is one thing, but you would never make that assumption if you were going to meet a government representative from Alabama

The same should be true of a government official from a Middle Eastern nation. There should never be a reason to assume he'd come out with a mouth "bulging with khat", a dagger at his hip, and "tribal swagger". This would be like assuming you'd meet a German politician and being surprised that they didn't show up in Lederhosen and yodeling while holding a beer in either hand

(That's not even to say that the Alabama stereotype you mention, while being often associated with whites in the US, is not necessarily exclusively white - whereas the Yemeni stereotype presented by the article is absolutely dripping in Othering language meant to be racialized)

It's kind of a one-two punch since they may have confused the group with the actual Houthi tribe they're named after? Anyway, "race" can encompass cultures too when they are significant enough, i mean, plenty of European states get racist at each other when they're practically the same genetics