America’s top defence official said the Houthis now see themselves as less subordinate to Iran.
The comments from defence secretary Lloyd Austin came just a day after the one-year anniversary of the Houthis’ first major attack on shipping.
They came after a reporter asked the official whether Iran’s weakened position, presumably a reference to Israeli air strikes against missile defence targets last month, created an opportunity for US attack against the Houthis.
Austin responded that in the past, the Yemeni militant group saw itself as subordinate to Tehran.
“Increasingly, we see them looking at themselves as being a partner and not so much subordinate,” Austin said.
“And they will make their own decisions about things.”
He said the Houthis have been “fairly persistent” after multiple strikes by the US and its allies on targets in Yemen.
But Austin said the US will continue to work to take away Houthi capacity to stage attacks from the country.
“They have to be held accountable for this unlawful and dangerous activity, and they will be,” he said.
Tehran supports a host of Islamic militant groups in the Middle East and Africa, but experts on the Houthis have long said the group is different because of its aim to establish an Islamic caliphate — a goal that could one day run contrary to Iran’s interests.
In a recent conversation with TradeWinds about the business network of Iranian-backed Houthi financial facilitator Sa’id al-Jamal, Middle East Institute non-resident fellow Guled Ahmed said the Houthis are aiming to become a global “khilifah” — the Arabic world for caliphate.
“This is also why they are currently working with Iran, but at the same time, they want to become their own thing,” he said.
And he said that the revenue from al-Jamal’s network — which includes sales of Iranian oil to China, ransom from shipping companies willing to pay for safe passage and even a mining operation in Somalia — helps the Houthis move toward that goal.
“Accumulation of capital [gives] them more power, and they will become another Iran, if you don’t stop them,” Ahmed told TradeWinds.
