“A new front in the Middle East war has opened with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis threatening Red Sea shipping, throwing a dangerous new variable at the U.S. and its allies and piling more pressure on the global economy.
By declaring a blockade on Saudi oil shipments through the Red Sea and firing on two vessels, the Houthis have begun to cut off a second important commercial chokepoint, the Bab al-Mandeb, the strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. The militant group's actions threaten to draw in other regional military powers such as Saudi Arabia, Israel and Pakistan.
The Houthis spent months on the sidelines as their patron, Iran, got pummeled by the U.S. and Israel. They jumped into the fray now for several reasons, Middle East analysts said, including a sense they could test a Saudi-led blockade of their ports and that Iran faced a new threat from a U.S. air war.
The alleged Saudi bombing of the international airport in the Yemeni capital, San'a, last week sparked their entry to the conflict in earnest.
"With the escalation, the Houthis constitute a nuclear option for Iran," said Adam Baron, a fellow at think tank New America who specializes in Yemen and the Persian Gulf. "They are a non-naval power that can execute a maritime blockade and hold the global economy hostage. They did this before and are aware they have this leverage."
Some ships with Saudi crude were reportedly slipping through the Bab al-Mandab, but oil prices have surged anyway. Ships may start trying to sail north through the Suez Canal, though proceeding from there to Asia -- where Saudi Arabia sells most of its oil -- would then require sailing all the way around Africa.
"You don't need an actual missile or drone to stop commercial traffic. If the shipping companies don't want to go through, you effectively have a blockade," said Michael Ratney, the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia under the Biden administration.
Like Iran, the Houthis are technologically far inferior to the U.S. military, but they present asymmetrical challenges. They bring to the war another anti-Western, Islamic-fundamentalist foe that has already proved in past conflicts that it is prepared to absorb painful military punishment without bending from its purpose.
The Houthis survived a campaign of U.S. airstrikes last year that sought to unlock their grip on the Bab al-Mandeb. They also outlasted a Saudi-led coalition that fought for seven years to dislodge the group -- a U.S.-designated terrorist organization -- after it seized San'a and a large swath of northwestern Yemen in a civil war.
"I just don't think trying to resolve this militarily will work. It didn't in the first part of the war," Ratney said. "The Houthis have absorbed insane amounts of violence from foreign military intervention and it hasn't really affected their ideology or motivation."
Once dismissed as little more than rifle-armed mountain fighters, the Houthis now control swaths of coastal territory and have a diverse arsenal of weapons to attack ships, including attack drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and unmanned boats.
Their missiles and drones are capable of reaching Israel, a sworn enemy, more than 1,000 miles away.
The escalation comes as a four-year detente between the Houthis and the Saudis fizzles.
"The Houthis are feeling emboldened," Baron said. "They have a desire to test red lines and see if they can set new ones."
Abdulmalik al-Alejri, a member of the Houthi negotiating team, said the group is demanding Saudi Arabia pay for war reconstruction and announce its withdrawal from Yemen, which is split between the Houthi-controlled zone and a Saudi-aligned south and east.” [1]
1. World News: Yemeni Militants Show Resilience. Abdel-Baqui, Omar; Kalin, Stephen; al-Batati, Saleh. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 24 July 2026: A6.
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