Hence, one of the best contributions Washington could make is to help Saudi Arabia and the UAE mend fences while urging them to work with their Yemeni allies on a realistic strategy for deterring the Houthis and…
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1. The Latest Cycle of Saudi-Houthi Escalation Is Different— ...
Hence, one of the best contributions Washington could make is to help Saudi Arabia and the UAE mend fences while urging them to work with their Yemeni allies on a realistic strategy for deterring the Houthis and winding down the war.
The Latest Cycle of Saudi-Houthi Escalation Is Different—and More Dangerous
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Dr. April Longley Alley is a Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute, where her research focuses on Yemen and the Gulf.
The Houthis’ ambitions, the regional stakes, and the strains on Yemen’s population have all intensified, setting the stage for a potential quagmire unless Washington, Riyadh, and their allies can pair military pressure with diplomatic off-ramps
2. How the Houthis are helping Iran turn Saudi Arabia into a ...
By targeting infrastructure and disrupting investment events central to Saudi Arabia’s economic ambitions, they aim to pressure Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to both meet Houthi demands in Yemen and persuade US President Donald Trump to ease the US blockade choking Iran’s economy, according to Saudi, Iranian and regional sources.
How the Houthis are helping Iran turn Saudi Arabia into a pressure point
Iran-backed group relies on Tehran’s financial and military support and seeks to press Riyadh into concessions on Yemen; analyst warns the conflict could widen into a Gulf war
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DUBAI (Reuters) — The Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia are about more than Yemen.
3. How Iran made the Houthis into such a problem for the U.S ...
Saudi Arabia, one of the world's richest nations and a key American ally, is now bearing the brunt of the Houthis' attacks, which have killed at least 20 people at Saudi airports over the last week.
Yemen's Houthi rebels have morphed over the last decade from being a little-known group in northwest Yemen, to Iran's most potent ally in the region and a central opponent of the United States and its allies across the Middle East.
While Iran's other proxy forces have been depleted in recent years, the Houthis have taken center stage in the Middle East, offering yet another example of how a smaller, guerrilla-style force that's dug in on the ground can cause asymmetric damage through hard-to-repe
4. Iran Update, September 17, 2026 | ISW
2. The Houthis are using their ability to threaten international shipping to deter the United States from providing more significant support to Saudi Arabia against the Houthis.
1. Allowing the Houthis to consolidate control over the Red Sea coastal plain would enable the Houthis to assert illegal authority over international maritime traffic in the Bab al Mandeb Strait, which would be extremely detrimental to US interests.
The Houthis’ recent military activity in the Red Sea coastal plain indicates that the group is trying to reinforce its de facto control over the Red Sea coast in tandem with its efforts to assert illegal authority over maritime traffic.
5. Why the Houthis Are Saudi Arabia's Problem
The U.S. opted not to intervene as Yemen’s Houthi rebels seized a major choke point for Saudi oil shipments on the Red Sea.
Why the Houthis Are Saudi Arabia’s Problem
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Last week, in a shock offensive, the Yemeni rebel group known as the Houthis seized territory near the Red Sea’s strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
In doing so, they opened a volatile new front in the destabilizing war between the United States and Iran, and left Saudi Arabia, an old enemy of the rebels, searching for allies and scrambling for a response.
This led to more than a decade of conflict w
6. Iran Update, September 18, 2026 | ISW
The reported Saudi request for a two-week truce with the Houthis comes amid a lack of international support for the Saudi offensive campaign in Yemen, even though the United States has continued to provide intelligence and targeting support to Saudi Arabia.[
The Houthis resumed the war when they imposed a “blockade” on Saudi Arabia on July 20 after Saudi attempts to prevent Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) advisors from landing in Sanaa, Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital.[
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Unspecified sources told Lebanese Hezbollah-aligned media on September 18 that Saudi Arabia offered the Houthis a two-week truce through Omani mediators, which the Houthis rejected.[