Eric Navarro
Middle East Forum, Mar. 17, 2025
“The international community must redirect trade and humanitarian deliveries to alternative Yemeni ports … to reduce reliance on Houthi-controlled shipping hubs.”
The March 15, 2025, U.S. strikes against Houthi targets reaffirm the Trump administration’s recognition of the Yemeni terrorist group’s threat to regional security and maritime shipping. While such actions are welcome, they represent just one front in a broader conflict with regional adversaries. Iran provides the Houthis with logistical, financial, and diplomatic support, using them as a proxy force to both undermine U.S. strategic interests and threaten Israel’s existence. While recent military operations degrade Houthi capabilities, only a sustained strategy will eliminate the threat altogether. Success demands a campaign that combines military force, aggressive diplomacy, economic warfare, and influence operations to systematically weaken and ultimately destroy the Houthis.
The United States must move beyond reactive airstrikes and naval patrols to implement a persistent military campaign. Special operations forces must conduct sabotage missions targeting key infrastructure including missile stockpiles, drone assembly facilities, radar stations, and command-and-control (C2) nodes in Saada, Sanaa, Hodeidah, and key Red Sea coastal areas. Meanwhile, cyber and electronic warfare assets must disrupt Houthi encrypted communications, disable radar and targeting systems, and neutralize drone command centers—particularly those operating from Al-Hudaydah Port, Abs Airbase, and clandestine sites in Amran and Hajjah provinces.
Securing naval superiority remains essential. A bolstered U.S. and allied naval presence in the Red Sea must enforce maritime exclusion zones near Houthi-controlled ports of Hodeidah, Saleef, and Ras Issa, intercepting arms shipments and preventing attacks on international shipping. Advanced unmanned surface and underwater vehicles like MANTAS T38, MARTAC Devil Ray, REMUS 600, and Orca XLUUV will enhance maritime surveillance and interdiction capabilities, extending the U.S. operational reach across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea.
Covert operations must complement conventional strikes. The Houthis sustain control through local alliances and illicit financial networks. U.S. forces and partners must strengthen the Yemeni government, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), and other anti-Houthi factions such as the tribes of Arhab, Nihm, and Bani Harith. Intelligence, logistical support, and direct funding will empower local resistance groups to disrupt supply lines, erode the Houthis’ authority, and prevent them from sustaining prolonged conflict….SOURCE