Leaders in Beijing might have thought that their ties to Iran immunized China’s global shipping conglomerates and its economy more generally from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi (Ansarallah) movement on global shipping through the Red Sea.| The Soufan Center
The Biden administration is weighing a potential foreign terrorist organization (FTO) re-designation for the Houthi rebel group, Ansarallah, based in Yemen.| The Soufan Center
Tensions along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon remain high, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Lebanese Hezbollah have continued to exchange fire on a regular basis since the conflict kicked off between Israel and Hamas in early October.| The Soufan Center
By targeting U.S. forces deployed in Iraq and Syria, Iran-backed militias seek to advance Tehran’s objectives of pressuring American leaders to remove U.S. ground forces from countries near Iran’s borders.| The Soufan Center
Bolstered by their persistent threat to Red Sea shipping traffic, the Houthis have emerged as the most effective component of Iran’s axis of resistance, even if Lebanese Hezbollah remains the most potent group within the broader proxy constellation.| The Soufan Center
The Houthi movement has progressively escalated its involvement in the Israel-Hamas war, even amid its unresolved conflict with the Saudi and United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Republic of Yemen government.| The Soufan Center
The actions and responses of Iran’s “axis of resistance” to Israel’s war to remove one axis member, Hamas, from power reflect differing perceptions and calculations among Tehran and its protégé movements.| The Soufan Center
Over the past three months, the United States and allied nations have undertaken a range of military actions to try to deter the Houthi movement of Yemen from conducting ballistic and cruise missile and armed drone attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.| The Soufan Center