The Houthis say that their position against “hostile American ships and naval vessels indicates one fact: that position has not and will not change, as long as the aggression” by Israel continues.
The Iranian-backed Houthis are doubling down on threats to the US in the wake of the election of US President Donald Trump. Their goal is to show they are not deterred.
On November 13, the Houthi Al-Masirah media bragged about the importance of the group’s decision to target US naval ships in the Red Sea. This is not the first time the Houthis have grappled with US naval ships. However, it illustrates a shift in tactics from targeting commercial ships to directly challenging the US Navy to a fight.
The Houthis have claimed to target the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. The Houthis also targeted the USS Stockdale and USS Spruance on Monday. Both ships are Arleigh-Burke class destroyers. The Stockdale is a guided-missile destroyer as well. It was put to sea in 2008 and the Spruance in 2010.
The US has said it is not aware that the carrier was also targeted. The Houthis used eight drones, five anti-ship ballistic missiles, and three anti-ship cruise missiles in the attacks on the ships.
The Houthis describe these attacks as having important “dimensions” and “implications.” They say that they are illustrating to the incoming Trump administration that this is a “furnace of an ongoing war.” The Houthis know that Trump has promised peace, and they are asserting that they can escalate and that “powerful wars” could develop in the region that “contradict Trump’s promises to stop wars.”
The Houthis say that their position against “hostile American ships and naval vessels indicates one fact: that position has not and will not change, as long as the aggression against Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen itself continues.”
Yemen’s civil war
The Houthis also have experience with Trump because they remember the first administration from 2016 to 2020. In fact, the Houthis also have experience with the Obama administration because they tried to take over Yemen in 2015 when Obama was in office. This was when the US was running into the arms of the Iran deal, and the Houthis used this as an excuse to improve their position in Yemen.
They tried to take Aden. This forced Saudi Arabia to intervene in Yemen’s civil war. This led to years of war with the Houthis and increasing Iranian involvement. The Iranians rushed drone and missile technology to the Houthis, and within a few years of the Saudi intervention, the Houthi drones and missiles were reaching into Saudi Arabia. Eventually, a ceasefire took place, and the Biden administration sought to delist the Houthis from a list of terrorist groups. This was a mistake because it empowered them.
The Houthis used their success in Yemen to be taken seriously among Iran’s other “axis” of proxy groups. They reached out to Hamas, Hezbollah, and Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq. By 2022, they were ready to coordinate operations against Israel. Hamas launched its attack on October 7, 2023, and the Houthis quickly began attacks on ships. Iran’s goal was to knit the Houthis into a large number of fronts against Israel such that when Hamas pulled Israel into Gaza, then the other fronts would begin attacks.
In essence, this would mean that a string now attached Gaza to Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria. When Hamas pulls the string, all the other countries get dragged into war. Hamas pulled the string, and now the region is at war with Iran, Qatar, Turkey, Russia, and China backing Hamas.
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The Houthis do not believe Trump can solve the numerous conflicts in the region that link Yemen to Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and Iraq. The new Houthi analysis in their own media says this openly. “We have experience with Trump in Yemen, as well as in the entire region, and the result is that he did not resolve the fronts in Yemen and did not succeed in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Iraq.”
The Houthi media also mentioned US Senator Marco Rubio as an example of someone they believe would not bring peace to the region. They believe that Democrats and Republicans basically don’t change foreign policy that much. This is bluster because they likely know that the policies of the US do change.
“With Tuesday’s military operation by the armed forces [against US naval ships], Sana’a [Houthis] confirms that it does not care about developments in the American arena as long as it remains a part and partner in the genocide of the people of Gaza and its efforts to liquidate the Palestinian cause,” Al-Masirah noted.
The same report says that the range of Houthi weapons is increasing, and they are prepared for a long-term battle with the US and US allies. The Houthis even claim they will soon be able to down US F-16s. They also assert they can target F-35s. This is likely a reference to Israel because Israel has carried out airstrikes on the Houthis using F-35s.
The Houthis have downed US Reaper drones in the past. Drones are easier to shoot down because they are slower than advanced 5th or 4th-generation military aircraft such as F-16s and F-35s. Drones have no stealth capabilities and present a relatively large radar signature to air defense systems.
The Houthis say that Trump is an “extremist president” who “leads a project and a bouquet of promises to Israel.” The Houthis say they are conveying a message to Washington and Trump in the only language “in the way that the Americans understand, which is the use of the element of force, but this time its impact will be great, as the commercial mentality of the next American president, as much as his Zionism and Nazism, will be like a brake on his madness, especially with the presence of the force that can stand in front of him as a barrier.” This may sound like a bluster, but it’s clear that the Houthis believe it. They recently tried to target Nahal Sorek south of Tel Aviv with a missile on Monday, November 11, according to their claims. This is an escalation. They also appear to be coordinating with Iraqi militias and Hezbollah in longer-range and more complex attacks, such as a drone attack targeting an area near Mitzpeh Ramon this week and Hezbollah claiming on November 13 that it targeted an Israeli base near Tel Aviv.