A new analysis published in China has brought global attention to the growing challenge posed by the Houthis, Iran’s proxy in Yemen, emphasizing their escalating threat to United States and Israeli security, as well as their destabilizing effect within the broader Middle East. The piece, authored by a senior academic at the Shanghai University of International Studies, underscores how the Houthis’ actions disrupt U.S. strategy in the region and also present a significant dilemma for their Iranian sponsors.
Since their rise to power in northern Yemen in 2014, the Houthis have shifted from local insurgency to a primary component of the Iranian-backed “Axis of Resistance.” Their ongoing missile and drone attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea since late 2023—intensified following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre of Israeli civilians—have forced the U.S. and its allies into costly military operations aimed at protecting maritime traffic and regional stability. This escalation, the deadliest attack against Israel’s Jewish civilian population since the Holocaust, marked a turning point, bringing the Houthi campaign into a wider war waged by Iranian proxies against Israel and the West.
Military officials note that repeated airstrikes by U.S. and U.K. forces have not succeeded in neutralizing Houthi capabilities. The Yemeni group, supplied with Iranian military technology and intelligence, continues to disrupt critical sea lanes and pose strategic dilemmas. A full-scale ground operation in Yemen is seen as a last resort due to the risk of U.S. entanglement in another protracted Middle Eastern conflict—a scenario policymakers in Washington are keen to avoid, even as they seek to maintain U.S. military credibility and hegemony.
For Iran, the Houthis’ independent actions exemplify the ambiguities and hazards inherent in proxy warfare. Tehran remains committed to supporting the group to exert leverage against adversaries, but can neither fully control their actions nor risk openly disavowing a proxy so central to its regional apparatus. At a moment when Iran seeks relief from Western sanctions and pursues new diplomatic openings, persistent Houthi attacks imperil these objectives, giving Israel renewed reason to press the U.S. for tougher policy toward Tehran.
Israel’s leadership, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Israel Defense Forces, views the Houthi escalation as further evidence of the urgent need for international recognition of the Iranian threat. For Israeli strategists, American presence and support in the region are essential to countering the network of Iranian-aligned groups—Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis foremost among them—which have demonstrated their capacity to destabilize not only Israel but major trade routes vital to the global economy.
The Chinese scholarly commentary recognizes this divergence in U.S. and Israeli regional goals. While Washington seeks to scale back its engagement without losing strategic influence, Israel favors robust U.S. involvement, especially as its security situation continues to be undermined by Iranian-backed terror networks. This divergence creates strategic tension, which the Houthis exploit by challenging the security environment in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Despite Iran’s ambitions, the Houthis’ actions are not entirely dictated by Tehran. The Houthis are characterized as “nail houses”—a metaphor for their stubbornness and unpredictability—even as they remain a crucial component of Iran’s regional project. This makes them a destabilizing force not only for adversaries but also for Iran itself, which must maintain the alliance while managing the risk of escalation beyond its control.
The Houthis’ ongoing campaign—carried out with Iranian-supplied missiles and drones—has imposed new costs on the global shipping industry, elevated the price of maritime insurance, and sparked fears of wider regional escalation. Western military sources have acknowledged that limited air campaigns alone are insufficient to curtail Houthi operations, and analysts caution that any successful strike against a significant U.S. or allied military target could force a wider military response.
The broader context is one of an increasingly unstable region, where non-state actors empowered by Iran conduct asymmetric warfare that imperils international security and commerce. The man-made humanitarian crisis in Yemen, the ongoing hostage crisis in Gaza, and the open threats against Israel are all manifestations of a war fueled by Iranian ambition and executed through local surrogates. China’s public acknowledgment of the Houthis as a destabilizing factor is significant, reflecting growing international awareness of the risks posed by unchecked proxy warfare in the Middle East.
Going forward, experts argue that containing the Houthi threat will require sustained international cooperation, robust intelligence-sharing, and a coordinated approach that addresses both the group’s operational capacities and the Iranian strategy underpinning them. For Israel, the United States, and their allies, a clear distinction remains between legitimate self-defense and the campaign of terror waged by Iran’s proxies. Ensuring clarity about these distinctions in diplomatic forums and media coverage will remain crucial as the war continues to threaten regional and global order.
