In spite of the deployment of a U.S. Navy flotilla to the Red Sea and the hundreds of American and allied strikes, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have reportedly maintained a consistent pattern of attacks on commercial shipping that passes through the critical waterway.
Additionally, they have continued to launch missiles at Israel.
All other Iranian-backed organizations, including the now-deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in Gaza, have temporarily ceased fighting.
However, the Houthis, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, persist in their efforts to disrupt global commerce, resulting in billions of dollars in losses and requiring shippers to either reroute cargo or navigate a gantlet of missiles and drones.
They assert that they will not cease until Israel ceases its hostilities in Gaza.
According to a U.S. defense official, approximately 450 Houthi drones have been destroyed by a coalition commanded by the United States.
Sean Savett, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, stated that the coalition has successfully suppressed certain antiship missile attacks and is employing diplomatic pressure and sanctions to halt the group’s illicit acquisition of weapons.
Nevertheless, commerce routes in the Red Sea continue to be paralyzed. Last week, Israel’s air defenses were breached by two Houthi missile assaults.
In response, the United States military conducted strikes on Houthi command centers and munitions caches on Saturday night.
Their status has been elevated in Tehran’s axis of resistance, which is comprised of regional militias that are hostile to the West and Israel, as they are one of Iran’s last remaining allies.
Some analysts express apprehension that Iran may now allocate additional resources to the group’s financing and training.
A nearly decade-long campaign by Saudi Arabia to unseat the Houthis has been successfully resisted.
Simultaneously, Iran and Hezbollah assisted in the transformation of the organization into a technologically advanced entity capable of attacking energy infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
In accordance with the United Nations, Yemen is the most impoverished nation in the Arab world, with over half of its 34 million inhabitants requiring humanitarian assistance, including famine relief.
According to the State Department, approximately two-thirds of Yemenis are under Houthi control.
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