After the collapse of the Iranian axis.. Does Washington have a clear strategy against the Houthis in Yemen?

After the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis emerge as the last of Iran's arms in the region, whose threat has recently escalated remarkably. After the disruption of the Iranian axis, discussions are taking place at different levels about Yemen, and the question is: Will the Houthis be next?

The intensive American diplomatic movements emerged during the past few days by meeting with officials in the legitimate government and holding a series of meetings in Riyadh. The American Ambassador, Stephen Fagin, also went to Cairo and met with a number of parliamentarians and leaders in political components.

Last Saturday evening, US forces launched raids on sites in Sanaa. They said they targeted a missile storage facility and a Houthi command and control room. This is the second time the US has announced targeting a Houthi command and control center since the start of US raids on the Houthi militia last January.

Last week, the US Central Command claimed that one of its strikes targeted a key command and control center that also coordinates Houthi naval attacks. The strikes were not targeting command and control centers, but rather focused on launch pads, control systems, radar, and missile depots, according to US military data. The Houthis say the number of strikes carried out by the US and UK reached 1,000 between January and December 2024.

It is not known whether the United States has a new strategy for dealing with the Houthis based on the dramatic changes that occurred in Syria. In light of these changes, American reports emerged re-reading the American attacks in Yemen against the Houthis that began at the beginning of this year. These attacks appeared to be ineffective in reality and did not affect the Houthis’ military capabilities.

US attacks on Houthis

American reports suggested that the United States should expand attacks against the Houthis, as it had largely avoided widespread retaliation against the Houthis. The Arab Gulf States Institute recommended that Washington "increase its offensive strikes, and make clear to the Houthis that leaders will be targeted."

For his part, Colonel Mohammed Al-Yafrisi of the Yemeni army said, “Houthi fear is growing from the new American attacks because the strike will be different, a strike that may not be with usual weapons, followed by an uncalculated disintegration, like the Hezbollah pager and the paralysis of Bashar’s communications and Iran’s control rooms.”

The explosion of pagers in all areas of Lebanon on September 17 was “a turning point in the war against Hezbollah and led to its confusion,” said the head of a Mossad department. He added, “The collapse of the Assad regime in Syria followed, which means that the entire Iranian axis was disrupted, and, as we learned today, even the Iraqi militias were stopped,” according to the American newspaper, “New York Sun.”

In this regard, Yemeni researcher Ibrahim Jalal Al-Bahth said, “It seems that the Western targeting of the Houthi rebels in Yemen has entered a new phase to now include command and control structures,” adding, explaining - via the X platform - “It is likely that the Houthi military leadership will be a target in the coming period, after witnessing a major and irreversible border escalation.”

Political moves and economic sanctions

He said in a post on the X platform, "Currently, we see American sanctions for the first time targeting the governor of the Houthi-affiliated Central Bank in Sana'a, after years of banning the new edition of the currency and imposing the reality of monetary division, which will undoubtedly end any attempts at rapprochement, and will reduce the Houthis' influence on the banking sector and the monetary situation."

Washington has no strategy in Yemen

Alongside US envoy Tim Lenderking and Ambassador Stephen Fagin, Jesse Levinson, head of the US State Department's Bureau of Counterterrorism for Middle Eastern Affairs, recently began attending regional security issues and confronting Houthi aggression inside and outside Yemen in mid-December.

He also attended various military meetings with the General Staff and prominent military leaders in Yemen. However, there is widespread skepticism about a shift in US foreign policy and the seriousness of its strikes in many Yemeni circles.

Journalist Adnan Al-Jabrani said, “Every now and then, the Minister of Defense or the Central Command appears to announce the implementation of precise and qualitative operations to destroy command and control facilities and strategic warehouses of the Houthis, but when you track the results of the raids (about 700 raids and naval bombardments), you find that they target ordinary sites, some of which are fake or have been bombed before.”

The strikes are determined within a specific and drawn ceiling - according to Al-Jabrni - who explains the American behavior as "appearing to be a response and interaction with Israeli anger and demand, and a continuation of buying time until a new strategy is formulated to deal with the Houthis in the next stage."

The Americans link the targeting of Houthi leaders to the killing of American soldiers, which has not happened yet - according to a post by journalist Al-Jabrini on Twitter - who said, "If any Houthi deaths occur as a result of the raids, they are collateral damage, meaning that they were not intended to be killed themselves according to the current American strategy."

The US military said on Sunday that friendly fire had hit a US F-18 jet and forced two Navy pilots to eject from their aircraft as US forces struck Houthi targets in Yemen. The Houthis said they had shot down the plane.

The American press commented on the incident to justify not expanding the attacks in Yemen, and the Associated Press saw the downing of the plane as "underscoring the danger of the Red Sea corridor" and also confirming America's reluctance to escalate the fighting against the Houthis and other Iranian agents.

“The friendly fire incident may be seen by opponents as a sign that the US military is rusty,” said the foreign affairs editor of the US newspaper The Sun. “More worryingly, it suggests there is no comprehensive strategy in Yemen,” he warned.

Considering the Houthis as Iran’s last claw after weakening Tehran’s other proxies, The Sun asked: Does Washington have a vision for dealing with the Houthi group based in Yemen or a way to end Iran’s aggression?