Do the Houthis Have the Capacity To Wage a Multi-Front War?<\/a>, The Media Line\u2019s Khaled Al-Ansi examines the military, political and logistical calculations shaping the Houthis\u2019 strategy as fighting with Saudi Arabia intensifies and regional tensions continue to mount.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe immediate flashpoints include ballistic missile and drone attacks on Abha International Airport, a declared maritime \u201cblockade\u201d against Saudi shipping and disputes over Sanaa International Airport, where the Houthis insist on direct flights between Sanaa and Tehran.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Political analyst Abdul Salam Mohammed argues that these issues are part of a broader regional strategy directed by Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He says major Houthi military decisions, including attacks deep inside Saudi Arabia and disruptions to maritime navigation, remain closely tied to Tehran\u2019s regional\u00a0objectives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Houthis insist they are prepared for a prolonged confrontation. A source working with the movement\u2019s General Mobilization Forces told The Media Line that the Houthis\u00a0possess\u00a0an integrated command structure, advanced missiles, drones, attack drone\u00a0boats\u00a0and autonomous underwater vehicles capable of sustaining a war of attrition. The source declared, \u201cThe Ansar Allah [Houthis] are fully ready for this war,\u201d while warning that \u201cBab al-Mandab, Saudi airports, and every other target are awaiting zero hour.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those claims are difficult to verify independently. Houthi-affiliated sources estimate the movement commands more than 200,000 registered\u00a0fighters,\u00a0another 250,000 personnel tied to mobilization units and broader tribal support. Yemen\u2019s internationally recognized government, meanwhile, says it has reorganized its forces under a unified command and now fields about 400,000 fighters, although that figure also\u00a0remains\u00a0unverified.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mohammed argues the conflict\u2019s trajectory may\u00a0ultimately depend\u00a0less on the Houthis than on Saudi Arabia. If attacks on airports, energy infrastructure and shipping continue, he believes Riyadh could abandon its more restrained approach and fully back a government offensive toward Sanaa with direct US support, potentially opening a far broader phase of the war.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Houthis\u2019 latest attacks on Saudi oil tankers, renewed strikes on Saudi territory, and threats to maritime traffic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-560345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}