Houthis Seize Red Sea Strait; US Stays Out
Houthis Seize Red Sea Strait; US Stays Out
The News
Iran-backed Houthi fighters have seized the Bab al-Mandeb chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea after Yemen's anti-Houthi forces collapsed, and the group is now eyeing the country's oil-rich east.
The advances include a strategically important Red Sea island, CNN reported, and follow the Houthi seizure of a Red Sea city a week earlier, according to the Associated Press.
The United States, stretched by its war with Iran, appears willing to watch from the sidelines, Al Jazeera reported. Neither Washington nor Saudi Arabia has a clear plan to push the group back, multiple sources told CNN.
Timeline
Houthi forces seize a Red Sea city, the Associated Press reported.
Yemen's anti-Houthi forces open an inquest into their sudden military collapse, The Guardian reported. The rout raised questions about coordination and morale, and some politicians claimed billions of dollars had been offered to persuade units to abandon their positions.
Al Jazeera reports the Houthis have grabbed Bab al-Mandeb, with Washington apparently prepared to trust Houthi assurances on shipping rather than intervene.
Breitbart News reports that China privately told Iran to rein in the Houthis and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The Houthis accuse Saudi Arabia of launching 26 strikes in 24 hours as clashes and reciprocal attacks intensify, Al Jazeera reported.
CNN reports frustration growing across the region as the Houthis widen the conflict and the US declines to step in.
Bab al-Mandeb is the gateway between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden — the route that feeds the Suez Canal. CNN reported the Houthi advances have hit a region already reeling from the US war with Iran and have worsened an already severe global energy crisis.
Why Americans should care
Reactions
Anti-Houthi politicians in Yemen have alleged that units were bought off, with billions of dollars offered to get them to abandon their positions, according to The Guardian. Their own side has launched an inquest into how the front folded so fast.
Officials and sources across the region told CNN they are frustrated and are openly asking where a counteroffensive would come from, given that neither the US nor Saudi Arabia has a plan.
The Houthis say Saudi Arabia hit them with 26 strikes in a single 24-hour stretch, Al Jazeera reported.
China, according to a report cited by Breitbart News, has pressed Tehran privately to rein in its Yemeni proxies and get the Strait of Hormuz reopened.
Writing in Foreign Policy, analysts argued the Houthi advance is about more than Iran, with a Saudi-Emirati rivalry driving moves across the region. The American Spectator, on the right, framed the moment as a test of whether Saudi Arabia will fight the Houthis and join the Abraham Accords.
What's Next
The Houthis are pushing toward Yemen's oil-rich east, with the Saudi-backed government and an array of other forces the only obstacle left in their way, the Times of Israel reported.
Yemen's anti-Houthi camp is running its inquest into the collapse, which is expected to test coordination and morale inside the coalition.
Saudi Arabia and the Houthis continue trading strikes, and the open question across the region — per CNN — is whether any counteroffensive materializes at all.
More
For now, Washington's calculus appears to rest on Houthi assurances that shipping will not be targeted, Al Jazeera reported — a bet made while US forces are already committed against Iran.
Poll
Should the US intervene militarily to push the Houthis off the Red Sea chokepoint?
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