By Al-Fassel | 2024-03-02

With their ongoing attacks in the Red Sea, the Houthis are putting at risk years of progress towards a resolution of the Yemen conflict by aligning with Iran, which continues to arm and support them, a US official has warned.

"Yemen is at a crucial moment," US special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking said during a February 27 US Senate foreign relations subcommittee hearing on Yemen and Red Sea security issues.

The people of Yemen deserve to live without the war, hunger and disease that have killed hundreds of thousands over the past decade, he said.

Yet "reckless Houthi attacks are jeopardizing the very real accomplishments of multilateral diplomacy over the past three years."

United Nations (UN) special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg in December announced that the parties to the conflict had reached an understanding that would form the basis of a roadmap for peace in Yemen, Lenderking said.

This includes "a durable ceasefire and an inclusive, Yemeni-Yemeni political process," he said, adding that "the UN roadmap remains Yemen's best hope for an end to the conflict and to avoid falling back into bloody civil war."

"Yet, as we have all seen since October, the Houthis are throwing this progress away to serve their own self-interested political agenda, aligning with Iran, at the expense of the Yemeni people," Lenderking said.

"Iran is equipping and facilitating Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. Credible public reports suggest a significant number of Iranian and Lebanese Hizbullah operatives are supporting Houthi attacks from inside Yemen," he added.

The White House said in December that Iran was "deeply involved" in planning the attacks, AFP reported.

"A recent unclassified Defense Intelligence Agency report confirms the Houthis' use of Iranian missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to conduct attacks across the Middle East," Lenderking said. "This must stop."

Keep sight of progress

Lenderking noted that despite the Houthis' illegal and reckless maritime attacks, the April 2022 truce between Yemen's warring parties continues to hold.

The Saudis, Omanis and Emiratis remain committed to the peace process in Yemen and continue to engage constructively.

"Violence inside Yemen remains at the lowest levels since 2015, and Yemen's humanitarian crisis, while still acute, is less severe than at its peak," he said.

"Until the Houthis' escalation, average Yemenis were beginning to see a way back to stability," he said. "We should not lose sight of these milestones, even as we necessarily degrade and destroy Houthi militant capabilities and condemn their attacks on civilian shipping."

"The Houthis risk killing mariners from many nations every time they launch an attack, which they have now done on more than 45 occasions," he said.

"By attacking oil tankers and other ships carrying hazardous materials, they are accountable for environmental catastrophe in the Red Sea, which would destroy Yemen's fishing industry."

On February 19, the Houthis targeted a ship transporting grain and food destined for Aden and al-Hodeidah, hurting their own people.

And by making maritime traffic through the Red Sea costly and dangerous, he said, the Houthis are exacerbating economic and humanitarian conditions in countries like Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.

The Houthis' isolation

In response to the Red Sea threat, the United States and its partners are employing a multi-pronged military, economic and diplomatic strategy to shift the Houthi calculus, Lenderking said.

But Iran and its proxies are continuing to arm and support the group.

"Our interdictions have disrupted Iran's resupply of the Houthis and provided tangible evidence of Iran's continued support to the Houthis' maritime attacks," he said.

"The Houthis desire to be viewed as a government, but they are violating international law and behaving like an armed militia with no respect for international norms," Lenderking said.

"The Houthis seek legitimacy on the world stage, and the broad coalition of likeminded nations we have assembled makes clear the depth of their isolation."

"Every globally connected country stands to lose from Houthi attacks, including our strategic competitors," he added.

"Even as we degrade and disrupt Houthis capabilities, squeeze their terrorist financing, and shame them on the world stage, we must also seek diplomatic off-ramps to bring an end to these Houthi attacks," he said.

"We are working multiple channels to make clear to the Houthis that the possibility of peace remains if they cease their attacks immediately."

"But with every missile launched, they run the risk of an even greater catastrophe that could doom the prospects of any agreement."