American website: How can Trump succeed in disrupting Iranian arms smuggling to the Houthis in Yemen?

The United States and its allies are stepping up efforts to curb Iranian arms smuggling to the Houthis in Yemen. President Donald Trump’s redesignation of the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization on just the third day of his presidency, along with the reimposition of the “maximum pressure” sanctions policy against Iran, aims to target Iran’s financial and weapons networks.

The FTO Executive Order states that “it is now the policy of the United States to work with our regional partners to degrade Houthi capabilities and operations, deny them resources, and thereby end their attacks on U.S. personnel and civilians, U.S. partners, and shipping in the Red Sea.”

These objectives are consistent with the Yemen Maritime Security Partnership, launched by the UK in November with US support, to support the Yemeni Coast Guard.

These options suggest that the United States is focused on countering the Houthis’ arms supply chains, while also suggesting that the White House is keeping the political door open to the possibility of stronger military engagement against the Iran-backed group.

For the United States, a stronger maritime partnership with the Yemeni government and allied forces in southern Yemen could be the first step to curbing the growing offensive capabilities of armed groups in the Red Sea region.

This would support Yemeni institutions to regain some degree of sovereignty in the country; weaken the emerging arms-based cooperation between the Houthis, al-Shabaab, and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula; and make it more difficult for Russia to develop game-changing military relations with the Houthis.

In recent months, the Yemeni Coast Guard has increased its interception of Iranian-supplied weapons destined for the Houthis. For example, on February 13, the Yemeni Coast Guard intercepted a cargo ship carrying a large number of weapons that had left Djibouti for the Houthi-controlled port of Saleef in Hodeidah.

The interception took place in coordination with the National Resistance Forces, the armed group led by Tariq Saleh, whose fiefdom is in Mokha, near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and whose forces control the Red Sea section of the Yemeni Coast Guard.

Read also : An American website reveals the seizure of an Iranian weapons shipment that was likely on its way to the Houthis in Yemen

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, most Coast Guard vessels operate in the Red Sea, not the Arabian Sea. This is the case even though much of the Houthi-smuggled weapons enter Yemeni territory via the Arabian Sea (Hadhramaut and Al Mahrah) and the Gulf of Aden because they are transshipped off the Somali coast.

Moreover, what the United Nations has described as “increased smuggling activities” between the Houthis and al-Shabaab (the Somali terrorist group affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) is taking place through Somalia’s Puntland state, as US intelligence has previously warned.

A more proactive U.S. stance against arms smuggling off the coast of Yemen would also reduce the risk of increased military ties between the Houthis and Russia.

According to several media reports, the Iran-backed group has been in talks with Moscow to provide weapons, a development facilitated by the Russian-Iranian strategic partnership.

Russian military intelligence personnel have reportedly been spotted in Houthi-controlled areas of the country, and Moscow has reportedly recruited Yemenis through Houthi intermediaries to join the battlefield in Ukraine.

However, de-escalation between the United States and Russia over Ukraine is likely to limit—at least in the short term—Moscow’s desire for stronger military cooperation with the Houthis to harm Western interests.

Strengthening Government and Institutions in Yemen

The more the United States supports Yemeni forces to curb Houthi smuggling activities, the more the Yemeni government and allied forces in the southern and southwestern regions will be able to attempt to restore some institutional presence in the country.

Since the Houthis began attacking naval vessels, the Yemeni government and allied forces have increasingly called for American and international support to retake Houthi-held territory.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference this month, Presidential Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi said the Yemeni government “must be empowered to exercise full control over its territory” and that this could only be achieved with “international support” and measures to prevent the flow of Iranian weapons into Yemen.

Earlier, during the Rome Mediterranean Dialogues in November, Yemeni Foreign Minister Shaye Mohsen al-Zindani explicitly asked the United States and international partners to strengthen the capabilities of Yemeni security and military forces, especially the Coast Guard.

As the Trump administration’s policy in Yemen takes shape, it has become clear that choking off Houthi weapons routes is a key part of the president’s strategy, and that U.S. partners in Yemen are eager to play an active role in this context.

The benefits of a robust, comprehensive strategy to disrupt these networks will surely reverberate throughout the region – and to global maritime traffic.

Source: the Atlantic Council