By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2025-07-01

ADEN -- The Houthis' threat to breach the Oman-brokered May 6 ceasefire agreement with the United States has laid bare their role as Iran's proxies and could bring further suffering to the Yemeni people, regional experts said.

The Houthis pledged to support the Iranian regime "with all available means" following Israel's targeted strikes on Iranian nuclear and military targets.

Their escalatory rhetoric threatens to unravel the truce agreement, under the terms of which the Houthis agreed to halt attacks on US ships and the US pledged to halt its military campaign against the group.

The US strikes had been taking out Houthi commanders, fighters and military infrastructure that the group was using to attack vessels in the Red Sea.

"The Houthis' threat to end the ceasefire with the United States once again confirms the group does not act in the interests of the Yemeni people," said director general of the human rights office in Sanaa, Fahmi al-Zubairi.

The group instead follows "a regional agenda dictated by Tehran," he told Al-Fassel, warning that its willingness to resume maritime attacks carries devastating implications for Yemen's civilian population.

The Houthis' subservience to the Iranian regime renders "Yemen's future a hostage to destructive regional conflicts," al-Zubairi added.

Renewed hostilities would tighten the maritime blockade, he said, disrupting food and medical supplies while driving up prices and worsening the humanitarian crisis and delivery of humanitarian aid.

The resulting economic isolation would trigger "a decline in investments and a halt in commercial activity at ports," he said.

Ceasefire serves Yemen

The Houthis function as "a reserve force for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)," Yemen's Deputy Justice Minister Faisal al-Majeedi told Al-Fassel.

The Iranian regime cultivated the Houthis as a strategic asset, he said, and their current pledges to defend the Islamic Republic stem from concerns that "Iran's supreme leader [Ali Khamenei] could be hit."

The Houthis' threats to target US vessels, combined with Tehran's warnings about shutting Bab al-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz, are part of a message the Iranian regime is attempting to send to the world, he said.

The continuation of the ceasefire in Yemen "serves the cause of peace and the interests of the region's peoples and paves the way for peace in Yemen," al-Majeedi said.

A genuine ceasefire does more than freeze military operations, he noted -- it creates the foundation for comprehensive political solutions by preventing further casualties, fostering dialogue, and facilitating humanitarian efforts.

"Continued escalation will have catastrophic consequences that extend beyond Yemen's borders," he warned.