Amid threats from Yemen’s Houthis that the group may at any moment enter the ongoing war in the Middle East, Saudi officials are working to preserve diplomacy and keep the group out of the fray, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing a US official.
Alongside Saudi efforts, the United States and Israel, while engaged in conflict with the Iranian regime, are seeking to avoid provoking the Houthis into entering the war, the official told the Journal.
The outlet noted that keeping the Yemeni group out of the conflict is critical because Iran’s grip on the Persian Gulf has already constrained a key global energy route. If the Houthis were to join the war, they could threaten shipping in the Red Sea, a major alternative corridor used to bypass the Gulf, potentially disrupting energy supplies further.
Further, Houthi involvement could further suck in more regional powers, including Saudi Arabia, the outlet reported.
“If the Houthis enter the conflict, it really raises the stakes,” New America think tank fellow Adam Baron, who specializes in Yemen and the Gulf, told the Journal. “It pulls the Suez Canal and the Egyptians in, it brings Saudi further in.”
The Houthis, though, are part of Iran’s regional proxy network, which includes Hamas, Hezbollah, and other militias, and may be pushed into fighting if Iran applies enough pressure.
Further, it has already expressed readiness to join the war.
Houthi leaders express readiness to join Middle East war
“Regarding the decision to stand alongside Iran, that decision has already been made,” Mohammed al Bukhaiti, a member of the organization’s Political Bureau, said earlier this month. Reiterating a comment made earlier by Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, he added, “We are watching the situation closely, and our finger is on the trigger,” and said that, “Yemen joining the conflict is only a matter of time.”
Al Houthi, earlier in March, said, “We affirm our support for the Islamic Republic of Iran” and said the group was ready for “any potential military escalation, and we are prepared to take action at any moment should developments require it.”
Nevertheless, the Journal noted the potential costs the Houthis may be considering as they weigh entering the war.
After Hezbollah joined the conflict, retaliatory Israeli airstrikes and a subsequent ground invasion have killed some 600 Hezbollah terrorists so far. Additionally, another 800,000 in southern Lebanon have been forced to evacuate.
Additionally, the Journal noted that US strikes on the Houthis last year battered the group and its leadership, and the Yemeni militia may not want to be seen as responsible for being the cause that would lead to the death of more Yemenis.
Still, Israel, even in the first days of the current round of conflict with Iran, has been considering the possibility that the Houthis may join the war.
A senior IDF official, in a closed meeting on March 3, cautioned that Israel must be prepared for a potential surprise attack from the group, Walla reported at the time.
The outlet reported at the time that the Houthis, with Iran's help, had rebuilt their ballistic missile and drone capabilities, and that the group could potentially use these weapons to strike at Israel.