Around the clock – Iran withdrew its military elements from Yemen, and has already abandoned the Houthi group, in a move aimed at avoiding a direct confrontation with the United States, according to a senior Iranian official, to the British newspaper Telegraph.
The official affirmed that Tehran is seeking to avoid escalation with Washington, especially if any Iranian element is killed during the escalating American air strikes against the Houthis. He stated that Iran began to reduce its support for allied networks in the region to focus on what it described as a “direct threat” from the United States.
The source pointed out that “Trump and how to deal with him” has become the focus of all meetings inside Tehran, noting that the regional militias that Iran had previously supported were no longer discussed in the decision -making circles.
The United States has launched almost daily raids on the Houthi sites, after leaking messages from the Trump team about the plans of strikes. Trump described these operations as “incredibly successful”, while the US Department of Defense announced sending more aircraft to the area.
The US Air Force 124 fighter unit announced, at the end of last month, the sending of offensive A-10 and 300 soldiers to the Middle East.
“The Houthis live their last days”
On the other hand, a Russian military expert is believed to be present in Sana’a providing Houthi consultations on carrying out attacks and avoiding Saudi targeting, which has launched raids on the Houthis since its intervention in the Yemeni war in 2015. According to the newspaper.
The Houthis said they had targeted American warships in the Red Sea, including the Harry S Truman aircraft carrier that leads the military operations against them. Although no ship was not injured so far, the US Navy described the Houthi fire as “the most violent since World War II.”
The aircraft carrier “Karl Vinson” from Asia to the Middle East to support current operations.
A source in the Iranian regime explained that “the prevailing belief is that the Houthis live in their last days, and there is no point in continuing to support them,” noting that their support was part of a regional network that included Hassan Nasrallah and Bashar al -Assad, and that keeping one party of this series “is no longer logical.”
Trump raised the pressure on Iran, demanded it to sit at the negotiating table around its nuclear program, and recently ordered the movement of the B-2 ghost bombers to the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean.
Washington’s policy in the Middle East has witnessed major transformations since Trump took power. Sanam, an agent, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the “Chehamam House” Institute, considered that the military escalation against the Houthis reflects Trump’s desire to differentiate from the Biden administration, which removed the Houthis from the list of “terrorist organizations” in 2021, before Trump returned it last January.
An agent said that these strikes are “linked to the maximum pressure policy of Trump, and aims to deliver a message to Iran and the axis of the resistance that his administration will adopt a bolder approach.”
The former Yemeni diplomat Mahmoud Shahr, from the Jordanian capital, Amman, indicated that the Houthis possess advanced weapons that make them more effective than the rest of the allied groups of Iran. He considered that the failure of Biden’s accounts regarding the Houthis prompted Trump to intensify strikes and directly target their leaders.
Shahr affirmed that the Houthis are getting missiles and drones from Iran, and then re -named them to appear local in order to avoid internal criticism.
Houthis in the interface
The losses of Hezbollah and the “Assad regime” led to the emergence of the Houthis as a main force against Israel. Since the October 7, 2023 attacks led by Hamas, the Houthis have improved their tactics and strengthened their missile capabilities, which helped them build a strong image inside the Yemeni.
The Houthis control Sanaa, print the currency, collect taxes, transfer aid, flee drugs, sell weapons to groups in Africa, and impedes navigation in the Red Sea.
Mountain geography provides Yemen an ideal environment for hiding weapons and drones, similar to the terrain of Afghanistan.
And his departure said that the Houthis are “more aggressive than Hezbollah, although they are less experienced”, and that their leader Abdul -Malik Al -Houthi is seeking to lead the axis of “resistance”.
He added that the Yemeni street is angry at the Houthis because of their failure to pay the salaries, and to impose non -representative taxes, which weakens their popular base, and makes them depend on the war in Gaza to justify their stay.