In the weeks before the U.S.-Iran war began, the Houthis promised that in the event of conflict, the Red Sea would run with the blood of their enemies. In speech after speech, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the group’s leader, told his followers that any attack on Iran would trigger an immediate and devastating response. The movement that had spent two years disrupting global shipping, launching ballistic missiles at Israel, and branding itself as the most committed member of the “axis of resistance” staked its credibility on a single proposition: If Iran is hit, we strike.
Iran has been hit constantly for more than a week. The Houthis have not struck…
Fatima Abo Alasrar is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Washington Center for Yemeni Studies. Founder and Writer at the Ideology Machine, a publication on authoritarian information systems. She can be found on X at @YemeniFatima.
