After the United States and the United Kingdom carried out airstrikes in Yemen the previous week, Iran has not yet restocked Houthi rebels with weaponry by sea, according to Western authorities. This suggests a cautious sense of hope over the effectiveness of the military operation in cutting off the group's access to weapons.
It is still too early to determine the long-term effect of the attacks, but at least momentarily, they seemed to have shut off important supply routes from Iran to Yemen, as per the officials who talked to Bloomberg. Confidential information was discussed, so these individuals agreed to remain anonymous.
While trying to prevent a broader conflict in the Middle East and stop the organization from attacking the Red Sea again, the US has taken the lead in trying to discourage such assaults.
Further Attacks That Cause Delayed Weaponry Supplies
In a significantly more restrained operation than the one on January 11, the US struck four Houthi missiles in Yemen on Tuesday, January 16, in a preventive attack. Two commercial ships in the Red Sea were hit by missiles within a 24-hour period, prompting these further attacks.
On Tuesday, a missile attacked the Greek-owned cargo ship Zografia as it sailed south of the canal. The previous day, a US-owned bulk freighter named the Gibraltar Eagle was also targeted. Apparently, the Houthis were still planning to launch further strikes after last week's combined US-UK operation.
In spite of this, officials from the US and Britain have said that no shipments have been attempted along the supply channels that they claim Iran has used for years to transfer weapons to the Houthis via Somalia and the Gulf of Oman, among other places.
Even if Iran may resume its attempts to equip the Houthis, one official saw it as a good indication. According to another insider, the Houthis' capacity to resupply weapons swiftly was a key target of the attacks. Nevertheless, the official also said that the rebels still obtain weaponry via other channels, including land.
Also Read : White House Designates Houthis as Terror Group
Major US Airstrikes Failed to Put an End to the Houthis
The first large-scale US airstrikes failed to totally stop the Houthi onslaught, as confirmed by National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby at the White House. Kirby highlighted that this had not been anticipated. "We have seen some additional lower-scale retaliatory strikes by the Houthis in the last few days, much smaller than what we had seen before and none of them effective," he said, as reported by CBS News.
At Tuesday's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan addressed the US assaults and pointed out that they are not looking for regional conflict. However, he did state that they reserve the right to take further action in response to the Houthis' attempt to basically hijack international commerce.
