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The Houthis (Ansar Allah) are still arming themselves with help from Iran and efforts by the United States and its allies to cut the group’s supply lines have been ineffective, Al-Arabiya reported on August 19, citing U.S. officials.
Recent weeks saw forces loyal to the internationally-recognized Yemeni government, which is allied to the U.S., seizing two weapons shipments en-route to the Houthis, one from Iran loaded with advanced anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, and another from China containing advanced drones.
However, a U.S. official who spoke to Al-Arabiya admitted that in most cases the weapon shipments are not getting intercepted.
“This is the reality of things when you have long seas and beaches, and you don’t have the strength to confront the problem, or the capacity required to combat smuggling or monitor shipments,” the unnamed official said.
Other U.S. officials told the Saudi-owned news channel that there were two main problems facing efforts to stop the flaw of arms to Houthis.
The first is Iran’s insistence “on continuing to smuggle weapons to the Houthis has not stopped. It is also determined to export unrest, and it is sending these weapons for this purpose.”
Meanwhile, the second problem lies in the fact that “there are many transit points for these weapons, from the Iranian coast to the coasts of the southern Arabian Peninsula, especially the Yemeni coasts toward the Gulf of Aden, Bab al-Mandab, and the Red Sea.”
The officials, including some serving in the U.S. Central and Africa commands, revealed that Iran has been cooperating with small groups, and even smugglers, in the Horn of Africa “to transport weapons in pieces, and the Houthis collect them upon receiving them from the smuggler.”
Both commands are working together to intercept what is possible, according to the officials, who acknowledged that “what has been intercepted in the past few months has been non-existent.”
The Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks targeting shipping from November 2023 in response to the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip. The attacks sank four ships, killing at least eight sailors. Another ship was seized by the group.
The campaign disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to reroute. In response, the U.S. formed a coalition to guard shipping in the Red Sea and launched strikes against Yemen.
President Donald Trump announced last May that the U.S. would stop bombing the Houthi, saying that the group had agreed to stop attacks on shipping lanes in the Middle East. Under the agreement, neither the U.S. nor the Houthis would target the other, including U.S. ships in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, Oman said in a statement at the time.
The breakthrough ceasefire agreement held up even after the Houthis sank two ships with links to Israel in the Red Sea in July.
In parallel with their campaign against shipping, the Houthis have been launching missile and drone attacks at Israel. Since March 18, when Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza, the Houthis have launched close to 70 missiles and more than 20 drones at targets in the country.
Efforts to deter the Houthis or degrade their military capabilities have clearly failed. Attempts to prevent the group from rearming are also apparently failing.
While the U.S. does not appear to be interested in a new clash with the Houthis, Israel, which has already launched 14 retaliatory attacks against Yemen, could escalate.
According to recent Hebrew media reports, Israel is preparing a major, broad-based operation against the Houthis with the aim of neutralizing the threat posed by the group for an extended period. The operation could include assassinations, and even ground raids.
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iranian and russian betrayal destroyed syria, and now it’s the houthis’ turn. saudi arabia, russia’s main ally, has systematically destroyed syria and is now going to destroy the houthis. khamis khanjar said that the saudis are the worst monsters in the world, much worse than iraqi pedophiles who rape eight-year-old girls. sudani is a monster who has allowed pedophiles to now marry eight-year-old girls. epstein, trump, and putin are the worst pedophile perverts.
the jooz and their proxy head choppers destroyed syria. iran and russia committed a great deal of blood and treasure to support syria from joo orchestrated terror.
mina bitter ugly now senile cannot attract pygmy rapist
“internationally recognised yemeni government” = a few quisling zio/ amerikunt whore stooges living it up in 7* hotels in shady wahabia. yemeni government = houthis.
americunt main expertise is failure