Yemen’s Houthis are expanding their territory and boosting their ability to threaten shipping through the Red Sea, aided by Iranian weapons and a growing flow of Chinese dual-use components, the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to the report, the Iran-backed group has seized Red Sea islands in recent weeks and pushed along Yemen’s mainland coast, including taking the port city of Mokha.
The Houthis have also asserted control over the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a key route for global trade and energy shipments.
MONTHS IN THE MAKING
The offensive was months in the planning, the Journal said. The Houthis, estimated to have about 350,000 fighters, moved weapons and thousands of troops toward Mokha in August.
The group also used its control of telecommunications networks to monitor its opponents, according to the report.
The Houthis do not have a conventional navy. Instead, they project power along Yemen’s coast with Iranian-designed missiles, explosive drones, sea mines, armed fast boats and drone boats.
Their arsenal includes ballistic and cruise missiles, anti-ship weapons and drones, all drawing heavily on Iranian technology and components, the report said.
IRAN’S LONG-RUNNING SUPPORT
Tehran’s backing of the group goes back roughly a decade.
Around 2015, Iran’s Quds Force began sending the Houthis components for Iranian-designed missiles and drones, according to the Journal. Iran also dispatched trainers to help the group build weapons on its own.
That assistance helped transform the Houthis into a force capable of attacking Saudi oil infrastructure, disrupting Red Sea shipping and threatening U.S. forces.
CHINA STEPS IN
Now, the Houthis have found another supplier.
“The Houthis now have a new source for the supplies they need to launch their attacks: China,” the Journal reported.
Chinese companies are supplying dual-use goods that can be used for both civilian and military purposes, including components important to Houthi drone programs, according to U.N. reports and arms experts cited by the newspaper.
The shift comes as Iran’s traditional smuggling routes have faced greater disruption.
For years, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards used small fishing boats to move arms, drone components and missile parts to the Houthis. But many of those shipments have been intercepted by U.S. forces and by Yemeni groups opposed to the Houthis, the report said.
The Houthis have also used Djibouti as a transit point for weapons and have traded small arms with al-Shabaab in Somalia, according to U.N. reports cited by the Journal.
SAUDI SHIPS IN THE CROSSHAIRS
The group announced a blockade on Saudi shipping on July 20. Since then, the Houthis have struck seven vessels in the Red Sea and one in the Gulf of Aden, according to the report.
Four of those ships were Saudi-flagged.
The Houthis have also targeted Saudi energy infrastructure with missiles and drones, the Journal said, though Riyadh has reported no damage from those attacks.
With Iranian technology already at the core of their arsenal and Chinese components now flowing in, the Houthis have tightened their hold on Yemen’s coast and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, according to the report.
