The Houthis balance their alignment with Iran and self-preservation by maintaining readiness, delaying direct involvement, and relying on conditional deterrence.

The Houthis in Yemen have emerged as one of Iran’s most visible and consequential regional proxies, stepping beyond a local war to become a key player closely tied to the calculations of an increasingly internationalized confrontation.

A Saudi-Turkish-Egyptian alignment is taking shape as an emerging axis, seeking to translate coordination into concrete action on the ground.

The Yemeni Maritime Security Partnership conference in Riyadh, which brought together representatives from 40 countries, sparked questions about the reasons behind the initiative, its timing, and what impact it might have on the ground.

While the U.S. had planned to move into a second phase of the mission, targeting top Houthi commanders, that goal was hindered by the group's ability to neutralize Washington’s most advanced surveillance asset: the MQ-9 Reaper drone.