The Houthis Have Opened a New Front in the U.S.-Iran War -- WSJ

By Omar Abdel-Baqui, Stephen Kalin and Saleh al-Batati

A new front in the Middle East war has opened up with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis threatening Red Sea shipping, throwing a dangerous new variable at the U.S. and its allies and piling more pressure on the global economy.

By declaring a blockade on Saudi oil shipments through the Red Sea and firing on two vessels, the Houthis have begun to cut off a second important commercial chokepoint, the Bab al-Mandeb, the strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. The militant group's actions threaten to draw in other regional military powers such as Saudi Arabia, Israel and Pakistan.

The Houthis spent months on the sidelines as their patron, Iran, got pummeled by the U.S. and Israel. They have jumped into the fray now for several reasons, Middle East analysts said, including a sense they could test a Saudi-led blockade of their ports and that Iran is facing a new threat from a U.S. air war. The alleged Saudi bombing of the international airport in the Yemeni capital, San'a, last week prompted their entry into the conflict in earnest.

"With the escalation, the Houthis constitute a nuclear option for Iran," said Adam Baron, a fellow at think tank New America who specializes in Yemen and the Persian Gulf. "They are a nonnaval power that can execute a maritime blockade and hold the global economy hostage. They did this before and are aware they have this leverage."

Some ships with Saudi crude were reportedly slipping through the Bab al-Mandeb, but oil prices have surged anyway, with the international benchmark Brent closing above $100 a barrel for the first time in two months on Thursday. Ships might start trying to sail north through the Suez Canal, though proceeding from there to Asia -- where Saudi Arabia sells most of its oil -- would then require sailing all the way around Africa.

"You don't need an actual missile or drone to stop commercial traffic. If the shipping companies don't want to go through, you effectively have a blockade," said Michael Ratney, who was U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the Biden administration.

President Trump has threatened to hit the Houthis and Iranians in response to any further attacks in the Red Sea, and Saudi Arabia has also rejected the militant group's threats.

Washington and Riyadh would prefer to avoid getting drawn back into a fight with the Houthis, who have previously thwarted their war goals in Yemen. The U.S. military is struggling to open the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Oman and Iran that Tehran has effectively shut down during the war.

One U.S. warship, the destroyer USS Gonzalez, is in the Red Sea, according to a U.S. official, but there is no indication that the U.S. military will engage the Houthis directly or help defend Saudi ships. More U.S. warships engaged in the fight with Iran are in the Arabian Sea, from where they can still potentially launch strikes at Yemen.

Like Iran, the Houthis are technologically far inferior to the U.S. military, but they present asymmetrical challenges. They bring to the war another anti-Western, Islamic-fundamentalist foe that already has proved in past conflicts that it is prepared to absorb painful military punishment without bending from its purpose.

The Houthis survived a campaign of U.S. airstrikes last year that sought to unlock their grip on the Bab al-Mandeb. They also outlasted a Saudi-led coalition that fought for seven years to dislodge the group -- a U.S.-designated terrorist organization -- after it seized San'a and a swath of northwestern Yemen in a civil war.

"I just don't think trying to resolve this militarily will work. It didn't in the first part of the war," Ratney said. "The Houthis have absorbed insane amounts of violence from foreign military intervention, and it hasn't really affected their ideology or motivation."

Once dismissed as little more than rifle-armed mountain fighters, the Houthis now control swaths of coastal territory and have a diverse arsenal of weapons to attack ships, including attack drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and unmanned boats. Their missiles and drones are capable of reaching Israel, a sworn enemy, more than 1,000 miles away.

During the Gaza war, the Houthis fired on Israel over its military response to Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and on Red Sea vessels, forcing shippers to take the longer journey around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Saudi oil tankers were already choosing the longer route this week, sending oil through a pipeline across Egypt to the Mediterranean.

The escalation comes as a four-year detente between the Houthis and the Saudis fizzles.

The Houthis earlier this month accused Saudi Arabia of bombing the runway at the international airport in San'a to prevent the landing of a plane that was returning the Houthi delegation from the funeral of Iran's slain leader. Saudi Arabia said the Houthis later fired ballistic missiles and drones at a civilian airport in the kingdom's southwest. The attacks marked the first major fighting between the Saudis and the Houthis since a 2022 truce.

The recent clashes with Saudi Arabia, coupled with escalating U.S. military action against Iran, have emboldened the Houthis to step in, analysts say.

"They have a desire to test red lines and see if they can set new ones," said Baron at the New America think tank.

Saudi leaders haven't taken military action against the Houthis off the table. Intervention is more likely if the Houthis inflict significant infrastructure damage or commit a mass-casualty attack, but Riyadh's precise trigger for escalation is unclear.

The Saudis also have a mutual defense pact with Pakistan, struck last year to deter attacks in the region as trust in the U.S. security establishment was eroded. Pakistan, which has experience fighting mountain rebels of its own, deployed jet fighters and troops to Saudi Arabia a few months ago. Its involvement could broaden the war and complicate the nuclear-armed country's role as a mediator between Iran and the U.S.

Abdulmalik Alejri, a member of the Houthi negotiating team, said the group is demanding Saudi Arabia pay for war reconstruction and announce its withdrawal from Yemen, which is split between the Houthi-controlled zone and a Saudi-aligned south and east.

"Saudi Arabia could spare itself the consequences of the crisis in Yemen on two conditions," he said in a social-media post.

Write to Omar Abdel-Baqui at omar.abdel-baqui@wsj.com and Stephen Kalin at stephen.kalin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 23, 2026 23:00 ET (03:00 GMT)