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The Current and Future Houthi Threat to the Middle East

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Michael Knights - The Houthis have (with strong Iranian backing and encouragement) exploited the enfeeblement of the Yemeni government since the Arab Spring of 2011, expanding through military conquests and seizing the capital, Sanaa, from the internationally recognized government in a September 2014 military coup. Since then, the Houthis have overrun Yemen's Red Sea ports, and tried to seize the port city of Aden and the energy hub of Marib. With sustained military support from Iran, they remain postured to lunge forward at any time to snuff out the last strongholds of the internationally recognized government of Yemen. The Houthis are a clan-based military junta whose leaders have modeled their movement on Lebanese Hizbullah. Their ideology is supremacist, in favor of their own genealogical caste over all other Yemenis. In their motto, they curse all Jewish people and openly pledge to seek the destruction of Israel and the U.S. The Houthis draw military, intelligence, and financial support from Iran, Hizbullah, Iran-backed militias in Iraq, the al-Qaeda and al-Shabab terrorist organizations, and reportedly also the Russian Federation. Inside Yemen they have committed gross human rights abuses: indoctrinating child soldiers, unlawfully detaining and torturing opponents, and diverting vital humanitarian assistance. Between 2015 and 2021, the Houthis fired more than 430 missiles and more than 850 drones against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. There have been 106 confirmed Houthi strikes on shipping in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean since November 2023. These unprovoked attacks robbed Egypt of more than $7 billion in Suez Canal fees. The writer is a Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute. He testified before the UN Security Council on Dec. 30, 2024.
2025-01-02 00:00:00
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